CYCLING
Armstrong cover-up alleged
A former teammate of Lance Armstrong alleged on TV’s 60 Minutes on Sunday that cycling’s world governing body had helped the seven-time Tour de France winner cover up a positive drugs test. Tyler Hamilton told the US version of the show, broadcast on CBS television, that Armstrong had told him he tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin) during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland, but escaped punishment after the International Cycling Union intervened on his behalf. Armstrong has always insisted he has never failed a dope test and Hamilton’s comments drew an immediate rebuke from Armstrong’s lawyer. “I know he’s had a positive test before,” Hamilton said. “He told me. He was so relaxed about it and he kind of said it off the cuff and laughed it off. People took care of it. I don’t know all the exact details, but I know that Lance’s people and the people from the other side, the governing body of the sport, figured out a way to make it go away.”
BASEBALL
Colon treatment gets interest
One of the doctors who assisted in a procedure last year on New York Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon said that other pitchers have expressed interest in undergoing the treatment that is being scrutinized by MLB. Leonel Liriano said in a Dominican TV interview that about 10 pitchers between the ages of 21 to 37 have contacted him about the possibility of getting the controversial medical treatment. The doctor did not disclose the identities of the athletes during his interview with the Sport Week program on Channel 13. Liriano is the medical director for US-based Regenocyte in the Dominican Republic. The company specializes in the use of stem cells for regenerative therapy. He has denied the treatment that the 37-year-old Colon received last year involved the use of banned substances and stressed his medical team consulted with Colon’s agent and lawyers in New York before beginning the treatment in the pitcher’s native Dominican Republic.
RUGBY UNION
Wallabies’ Elsom hurts ankle
Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom faces another spell on the sidelines after injuring his ankle in his first match of the season for the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby at the weekend. The 28-year-old flanker was to undergo scans yesterday to determine the seriousness of the injury he sustained in the second half of the Brumbies’ 13-13 draw with Western Force on Saturday. A six-week spell out could signal the end of Elsom’s time at the twice-Super Rugby champion Brumbies, who have four matches left to play and no hope of making the playoffs. Elsom has not yet decided on his future after his contract with the Brumbies and Australian Rugby Union expires at the end of the year. Saturday’s match in Perth was Elsom’s first for six months after he recovered from a hamstring injury.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Sam Faust dies of leukemia
Former North Queensland National Rugby League (NRL) forward Sam Faust lost his battle with leukemia and died aged 26 in Townsville, Australia, yesterday, the club said. Faust played 24 matches for the Cowboys in 2007-2008, before his rugby career was cut short when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2009. In recent months, NRL players and fans raised money for Faust, a father of three, to travel to the US for medical treatment. “I know everyone connected with our club, and with rugby league in general, will be saddened by this news,” Cowboys chief executive Peter Jourdain told reporters.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but