ATHLETICS
Mosop shatters records
Kenyan Moses Mosop shattered 30-year-old track records for the rarely run 25,000m and 30,000m at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday. The 2005 world 10,000m bronze medalist took more than two minutes off the longer race record, running one hour, 26 minutes, 47.4 seconds. He clocked one hour, 12 minutes and 25.4 seconds in the shorter distance. The 25-year-old lapped all seven of his competitors at least twice in the 75-lap longer race. Japan’s Toshihiko Seko set both previous records at Christchurch in March 1981. He ran 1:13:55.8 in the 25,000m and 1:29:18.8 for the longer race. Both distances are recognized as official world records by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The races were part of a distance carnival on the eve of the Prefontaine Classic’s main events.
HORSE RACING
Overdose kills jockey
Michael Baze, a jockey found dead in his car at Chruchill Downs in Kentucky last month, was killed by an accidental overdose of cocaine and a prescription pain medication, a Kentucky coroner ruled on Friday. Jim Wesley, deputy coroner for Jefferson County, said the cause of death was multiple substance intoxication after finding major amounts of cocaine and the pain medication oxymorphone in Baze’s system. Baze, 24, was found in his car near the stables of the famed Louisville track, home to the US horse racing classic the Kentucky Derby. Baze, who faced a cocaine possession charge when he died, earned more than US$32 million in a nine-year career. The son of former jockey Mike Baze is a cousin of Russell Baze, the holds the most wins in North American racing history.
BASEBALL
Matsuzaka to have surgery
Japanese star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was put on the 60-day disabled list by the Boston Red Sox on Friday even as a report said he had decided to have elbow surgery next week. The Red Sox said Matsuzaka, 3-3 with a 5.30 earned-run average in eight appearances this season, is suffering from a sprained right elbow. He was put on the 15-day disabled list last month. However, the Boston Globe reported on Friday, citing unnamed multiple major league sources, that “Dice-K” had decided to undergo reconstructive right elbow surgery that could sideline the 30-year-old right-hander for at least a year. Matsuzaka, who is 49-30 with a 4.25 earned-run average since joining the Red Sox before the 2007 season, has a six-year contract worth US$52 million that expires after next year’s season. In addition to paying his salary, the Red Sox paid Japan’s Seibu Lions US$51.1 million for the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka, who in his first North American season helped the Red Sox capture the 2007 World Series crown.
BASEBALL
Over-leveraged clubs named
Nine of Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs are not in compliance with debt rules despite the elite level of the US pastime making US$7 billion in annual revenues, the Los Angeles Times reported. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources familiar with a confidential briefing at an owners meeting last month, reported on Friday that nearly one-third of the clubs are over-leveraged, including the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. Other clubs named as outside of debt rules in the report were the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins.
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