CYCLING
Lance snubs doping queries
Lance Armstrong refused to comment on Wednesday on the latest doping allegations that are marring the seven-times Tour de France champion’s farewell ride at the Tour Down Under in Mannum, Australia. On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated magazine published fresh accusations against the 39-year-old American, who has been under scrutiny since former teammate Floyd Landis accused him and other prominent figures in the sport of doping last May. “I have nothing to say,” Armstrong told reporters when asked about the article before the start of the second stage. The media, however, did not back down and continued to quiz the Texan, who has faced several allegations of taking illegal substances throughout his career, although he never tested positive. “Like I said, I have nothing to say.” he said, before admitting he had read the report. “I perused it ... there’s nothing there,” he said. When asked once again about the report, Armstrong told a reporter: “Dude, are you that stupid? What part of ‘I’m not commenting’ is not clear to you?”
Photo: AFP
CYCLING
Landis calls for legal doping
Disgraced Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has called on cycling authorities to legalize doping because he believes testers will always struggle to uncover the cheats. Landis, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, lost his 2006 Tour title after testing positive for testosterone. He now believes the fight against doping is one that cannot be won. “You’ve got to legalize doping. They [the testers] are so far behind in the testing organizations that there’s no way to change it now,” Landis told Cyclingnews Web site on Wednesday. “Just accept that it’s here, that it’s not going away and that it’s just going to get more complicated and the fact that it’s not that complicated yet compared to what it will be,” Landis said. “Ten years from now it’s going to be four times as hard as it is now to test for things.”
CYCLING
RFEC to decide on Contador
The Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) will decide between Feb. 10 and Feb. 15 whether to suspend Tour de France champion Alberto Contador over a positive doping test during last year’s race, president Juan Carlos Castano said on Wednesday. An RFEC spokesman confirmed the comments. Three-times Tour winner Contador, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, has been suspended since August pending the RFEC’s ruling on a positive test for the anabolic agent clenbuterol. The case could drag on longer as either the Spaniard, the International Cycling Union (UCI) or the World Anti-Doping Agency can appeal against the decision if any of the three deem it too harsh or too lenient. Castano also said the UCI’s medical committee would decide on Monday whether Contador’s claim that the failed test was because of contaminated meat was credible.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite