CYCLING
Lance Armstrong at peace
Lance Armstrong said he was more at peace now than he has been in a decade. In his first interview since the US Anti-Doping Agency disciplined him with a lifetime ban from professional cycling and vacated his seven Tour de France titles, he said: “Nobody needs to cry for me. I’m going to be great.” Still, his ego was bruised after being beaten by 16-year-old Keegan Swirbul at the Power of Four mountain bike race on Saturday. Armstrong finished second, nearly five minutes behind the lanky teenager. Soon after crossing the finish line and skidding to a stop, Armstrong chatted for a few minutes before saying: “OK, I’m going to go eat a cheeseburger.”
BASKETBALL
NBA stars visits Myanmar
The US has appointed an ambassador to Myanmar and helped bring in US businessmen keen on doing business in the rapidly reforming Southeast Asian nation. Now, Washington is sending professional basketball players and coaches in a bid to boost cultural ties. The US embassy said ysterday that four “sports envoys” have arrived in the country as part of a US Departmentof State-sponsored program “to emphasize the importance of academics, cooperation and respect for diversity.” The group will conduct several sports workshops with local youth before leaving on Friday. The group includes Charlotte Bobcats basketball team manager Richard Cho, a Myanmar native who migrated to the US. Also traveling are Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Darvin Ham, former Women’s National Basketball Association player Allison Feaster and former NBA player Marty Conlon.
NASCAR
Hamlin wins in Bristol
Denny Hamlin won for the first time at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee with a calculated late pass on Saturday. Hamlin flirted with Carl Edwards for the lead late in the race, and set up his move with 39 laps remaining. Hamlin used a slide move to get past Edwards, then held on as Edwards tried to use a cross-over move to get back in front. It did not work for Edwards, and Hamlin drove away for his third victory of the season. Jimmie Johnson finished second and clinched a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr also locked down spots in the 12-driver field. Jeff Gordon was third, followed by Brian Vickers and Marcos Ambrose.
ATHLETICS
Merritt eyes world record
Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt was eyeing the world record when he was to race at a Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, England, yesterday. The US hurdler, who was disqualified from the event at the Lausanne Diamond League earlier this week for a false start, said if conditions were agreeable, bettering the world mark of 12.87 seconds was within his reach. “I think the world record is obtainable,” Merritt told a news conference said. “I just need the right conditions and I need to stay in the blocks,” he said in reference to Lausanne. “I need to execute my race like I’ve been doing all season all hopefully it’ll come.” The field features Olympic silver and bronze medalists, Jason Richardson of the US and Jamaican Hansle Parchment. Merritt has dominated the event this year, with the most sub-12.95 second performances recorded in a single season. American sprinter Tyson Gay, fourth in the 100m at the Olympics, will race over 200m for the first time in two years.
GOLF
Garcia takes the lead
Spain’s Sergio Garcia held his own at demanding Bethpage Black in New York on Saturday, firing a two-under 69 to seize sole possession of the lead after three rounds of The Barclays. Garcia, who shared the overnight lead with Nick Watney in the first event of the US PGA Tour’s playoffs, had a 54-hole total of 10-under par 203, two strokes in front of Watney. Garcia, who has the Ryder Cup in his sights after his victory in last week’s Wyndham Championship, survived Bethpage’s fast, slick greens which caused plenty of trouble for others, including Tiger Woods. Woods appeared to be over the sore back that bothered him on Friday, but the 14-time major champion had four three-putts in a one-over par 72. “I hit good putts, but my speed was awful,” said Woods, who was tied for 10th at four-under par. “That was a bit of a shocker. It was slippery out there. I played a beautiful round of golf, unfortunately didn’t clean it up on the greens. It was unbelievable how fast it got. Some of the greens have grass, some of them are on the dirt side. They’re right at the limit. They’re slippery once you start putting.” Garcia finished the day with five birdies and three bogeys.
GOLF
Teenager Ko seizes lead
New Zealand teenager Lydia Ko seized a one-stroke lead in the Canadian Women’s Open on Saturday, setting her sights on becoming the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history. Ko, 15, fired an even-par 72 on the Vancouver Golf Club layout for an eight-under total of 208. She was one stroke in front of a quartet of players: the US’ Stacy Lewis and South Koreans Jiyai Shin, Inbee Park and Chella Choi. “It’s good to stay at the top of the leaderboard, but my first goal was to make the cut and hopefully top 15 or something,” Ko said. “But to be up there is just an honor, especially playing against the world’s best. Fifteen-year-olds don’t lead at an LPGA event all the time. Like I said, I’m very surprised. But I’ve been playing really good golf and I’ve been really confident with my game.” Choi, who shared the overnight lead with Ko, carded a 73. Lewis climbed up the leaderboard with a 66, Shin posted a 69 and Park carded a 70. World No. 1 Yani Tseng, who led after the first round, struggled to a two-over 74 on Saturday. The Taiwannese star is tied for 21st at one-under 215.
GOLF
Lawrie eyes Ryder Cup
Scotland’s Paul Lawrie is determined to deliver European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal a third victory boost after muscling his way to a one-stroke lead on day three of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Lawrie, seeking his second Tour victory this year, grabbed seven birdies in a five-under 67 on Saturday to move to 12-under par and one stroke clear of Frenchman Romain Wattel. Earlier this week, Lawrie’s return to the European Team for the first time in 13 years since making his only appearance at Brookline in 1999 was confirmed. “I played very good again today and hit the ball very solid,” he said. “I gave myself a lot of chances and only hit two poor shots all day. But the big thing this week is that I have been working on my rhythm again. I was doing that at the start of the year, but what has been going on lately, it’s not been the same so if I can hang on tomorrow [yesterday] and that would be huge to have two wins in a Ryder Cup year.” If successful in capturing an eighth European Tour success, Lawrie would then join fellow European Ryder Cup members Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia as a third straight winner for Olazabal.
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