■TAEKWONDO
Armless woman seeks belt
A US woman who was born without arms or kneecaps is preparing to test for her black belt. Sheila Radziewicz is scheduled to take her test next month at Bruce McCorry’s Martial Arts in Peabody, Massachusetts. The 32-year-old brown belt, who was born with TAR syndrome, told the Salem News she’s been training in martial arts for three years. McCorry, her teacher, said he’s never seen a student like Radziewicz. Despite her condition, she can use nunchacku and break boards with her kicks. The Salem, resident, who works as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, said she has never let her disability stop her. At 23, Radziewicz earned her driver’s license and uses a car that she controls with her feet.
■FORMULA ONE
Button puts vroom in Frome
World champion Jenson Button went back to school on Tuesday before receiving the freedom of Frome, the English country town where he was born 30 years ago. Button, who will soon have a footbridge named after him in the Somerset town that rhymes with vroom, visited his three boyhood schools and met teachers and pupils before a public address to locals. “It’s a real privilege to accept this,” the Monaco-based McLaren driver told the BBC. “I visited all the schools I went to here in Frome and that was a great experience. It made me feel like a kid again.” Button, who leads the championship after two wins in four races, was also representing the British Motor Sports Association’s Go Motorsport initiative to help more people into motorsport. “It’s quite an emotional day seeing all these people and hopefully helping these people realize that they can achieve their goals and dreams,” Button said.
■SOCCER
Injuries worry Del Bosque
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque is concerned by the injuries plaguing several key Spanish internationals like Liverpool striker Fernando Torres ahead of the World Cup in South Africa. “We are worried because it is something that he cannot control,” he said in comments published yesterday in sports daily Marca. Liverpool’s medical chief Peter Brukner said on Tuesday that Torres, who is recovering from a second operation in three months to repair damage to his right knee, may not be fit in time for Spain’s opening World Cup clash with Switzerland on June 16. Fellow current walking wounded include Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta and Villarreal holding midfielder Marcos Senna. Del Bosque said “expectations were good” that the players would recover in time for the June 11 to July 11 World Cup. He also said he was confident that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola would not put midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who has been playing with a tear in a leg muscle, “at risk.” Del Bosque is scheduled to announce his 23-man World Cup squad on May 20 before the group heads to Austria for a training camp ahead of the start of the tournament.
■GOLF
Bayron takes lead
Filipino Jay Bayron stayed on the birdie train yesterday to take the first round lead in the inaugural Kariza Indonesia Championship. Bayron fired a six-under-par 66 at Gading Raya Golf Club outside Jakarta. Indonesian No. 1 Rory Hie and Wisut Artjanawat from Thailand both carded 67s, while Singapore’s Mardan Mamat returned a 68. Bayron, 30, made seven birdies and one bogey to plant his name at the top of the leader board.
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