CYCLING
Evans keen on Olympics ride
Tour de France champion Cadel Evans told Australian media that he would love to compete at next year’s Olympics, but only if the course is tough enough. Evans became the first Australian — and only third non-European — to win the Tour when he finished in Paris on Sunday. His schedule is being overhauled to accommodate extra commitments and he has not ruled out racing the Olympic road event, despite the London Games starting only days after next year’s Tour de France. “I don’t know if the course is going to be suitable, but if I can be the man for the job to represent the country, of course I would love to ride,” he said. “
OLYMPICS
UK warns about journalists
Training for next year’s Olympics extends beyond gyms and running tracks for British athletes. Coaching is being provided on how to deal with scoop-hungry British journalists. General news reporters, the British Olympic Association is warning athletes, will only be at the Games to find front-page stories that “will not be in the athlete’s interest.” “These writers have no allegiance to your sport and are sent to an event such as the Olympic Games to get a story,” the association’s Athletes’ Guide to Dealing with the Media says. “These stories by their very nature are usually linked to a scandal and the writer does not care if he/she treads on any toes to find a lead. The news reporter’s aim is to find a front-page story.”
CYCLING
McEwen sprints to form
Australia’s Robbie McEwen took his first win of the season in a sprint finish for the fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium on Tuesday. The 39-year-old RadioSchack rider beat Norway’s Alexander Kristoff and Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus after the 151.6km run from Enghien to Mouscron. Belgian Greg Van Avermaet of BMC took the leader’s yellow jersey from Dutch rider Joost van Leijen. “The guys did a really good job staying in the front and keeping myself and Manuel Cardoso out of the wind and up where we needed to be,” said McEwen, a triple winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey sprinter’s classification. This season he is focusing on the rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Copenhagen in September.
BASKETBALL
Love takes talents to beach
NBA rebounding leader Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves is taking his talents to the professional beach volleyball circuit during the NBA’s ongoing lockout of players. Love announced on Tuesday that he plans to play in next month’s Manhattan Beach Open and hopes to make it past the opening round of the US$200,000 California beach event, although he does not yet have a partner. “I’m tall. I’m quick. I can jump and I’ve spent some time playing beach volleyball during my time in Los Angeles,” Love said. “Now that I have to start thinking about a backup plan with the basketball lockout, I thought ‘Why not?’”
BASKETBALL
Paul, Anthony mull China
Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have said they will consider offers to play professional basketball in China if there is no resolution to the NBA lockout. Both players are on a promotional tour of China while monitoring news from home about the so-far fruitless attempts to break the NBA’s labor impasse. With Kobe Bryant reportedly negotiating a deal to play in Turkey, New Orleans Hornets star Paul and New York Knicks Anthony say they are also considering overseas moves.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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