■ATHLETICS
Wayne Collett dies aged 60
Wayne Collett of the US, who won the 400m silver medal at the 1972 Olympics and was later banned from the Olympics for life, died on Wednesday US media reported. Collett, 60, died at the St Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles from cancer, said Mark Dellims, the sports information director for UCLA, where Collett had been a track and field star. At the 1972 Munich Games, Collett was beaten to the 400m gold medal by compatriot Vince Matthews, but it was their subsequent antics on the podium that arguably dominated the headlines. As the national anthem played both athletes fidgeted and talked, sparking fears of another “Black Power” protest four years after Tommie Smith and John Carlos caused controversy in Mexico. Collett later explained he had felt uneasy honoring the anthem because of the struggle faced by African Americans at the time. “I couldn’t stand there and sing the words because I don’t believe they’re true,” he said. “I wish they were. I believe we have the potential to have a beautiful country, but I don’t think we do.” Both Collett and Matthews were immediately banned from future Olympic competition by the International Olympic Committee.
■HORSE RACING
Brennan rides Cup winner
Paddy Brennan rode Imperial Commander to glory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday after pre-race favorite Kauto Star fell four fences out. Imperial Commander, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, was too strong for 2008 Gold Cup winner Denman, pulling clear on the run to the last before powering to win by seven lengths. “It’s by far the best day of my life,” a delighted Brennan said. “I’m speechless. It was a dream the whole way.”
■SPEEDSKATING
South Koreans dominate
South Korea dominated the first day of the short track speedskating world championships. Kwak Yoon-gy clocked 2 minutes, 24.316 seconds to win the men’s 1,500m title on Friday, leaving the silver and bronze medals to teammates Sung Si-bak and Lee Ho-suk. Park Seung-hi of South Korea took the women’s 1,500m title in a time of 2 minutes, 21.570, beating teammates Lee Eun-byul and Cho Ha-ri.
■SLED DOG RACING
Jamaican finishes 47th
The first musher from Jamaica to enter the 1,770km Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has reached the finish line at Nome, three days after Lance Mackey won for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time. Newton Marshall finished in 47th place. The 27-year-old rookie covered the arduous course in 12 days, 4 hours and 27 minutes, reaching Nome at 7:27pm on Friday. As of late Friday night, 48 mushers had completed the race and 15 others have scratched. Eight remain on the trail. The last musher to reach Nome receives the Red Lantern Award. Marshall, a resident of St Anne Parish, said before the start that he was determined to make it to Nome and excited to see the “lovely” landscape along the way.
■SKYDIVING
Florida jump goes wrong
A man died while skydiving in Florida after he had problems with his parachute, authorities said. Zephyrhills police said 68-year-old Paul Luter III appears to have died instantly upon impact on Friday afternoon. Skydive City general manager David Hayes said it appears Luter’s main shoot didn’t open properly. By the time Luter cut away from his main parachute at about 90m, there was not enough altitude for the reserve parachute to deploy.
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