■TENNIS
Odesnik accepts suspension
US player Wayne Odesnik has accepted “a voluntary provisional suspension” from all events after pleading guilty last month to importing human growth hormone into Australia. The International Tennis Federation said in a statement yesterday that the suspension, which covers Grand Slam tournaments and ATP-sanctioned competitions, started last Friday. Because it is a voluntary suspension, Odesnik could decide to play again at any time. Odesnik has not tested positive for a banned substance. He will face an independent tribunal in the next two months. Odesnik was stopped by customs officers on Jan. 2 when he arrived in Australia ahead of the Brisbane International. Eight vials, each containing 6mg of the performance-enhancing substance, were found in his baggage. Odesnik has denied taking the banned substance, and continued to play on the ATP tour. On Thursday, the ITF said it would review the rules that had prevented it from suspending Odesnik. The governing body of tennis can only provisionally suspend players who are being investigated for a failed doping test. But players cannot be prevented from playing while they are investigated for other suspected doping violations, such as possessing a banned substance.
■SOCCER
Striker’s brother beaten
The brother of Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf is recovering from an attack by rival fans outside Manchester City’s stadium on Saturday. Abdul Diouf watched United win 1-0 in the English Premier League before a group of home fans spotted the United shirt he was wearing as he left. He was punched and kicked to the ground, but was not seriously injured. Diouf’s agent, Jim Solbakken, said his client’s brother was fine and they decided against making a complaint to the police over the attack. “The case is closed,” Solbakken said. “He was walking about in a Manchester United shirt. It wasn’t a smart thing to do.” Diouf has yet to start a Premier League game but has made five substitute appearances.
■RALLYING
Loeb wins Rally of Turkey
World champion Sebastien Loeb of France, driving a Citroen C4, won the Rally of Turkey on Sunday ahead of Norway’s Petter Solberg (Citroen C4) and Mikko Hirvonen of Finland (Ford Focus). Loeb, who this year is aiming to win his seventh straight world drivers title, finished 54 seconds ahead of Solberg and one minute 43 seconds clear of Hirvonen. The third and final day of the rally opened with the cancellation of the first two stages for security reasons.
■BADMINTON
Denmark rule roost
Peter Gade secured his fifth men’s singles championship as Denmark dominated the finals of the European championships in Manchester on Sunday by winning four of the five titles. Tine Rasmussen won her first and the mixed doubles and men’s doubles also went to the Danes. Gade produced his best form of the tournament to defeat compatriot Jan Joergensen. The only title that eluded Denmark was the women’s doubles where victory went to Russia’s Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova. Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl got the Danes off to a winning start by beating Poland’s Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk. Rasmussen added the women’s singles title to the second All England crown she won last month in by beating Juliane Schenk of Germany. Denmark’s other gold came in the men’s doubles where Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen took the title.
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