The Texas State Supreme Court dealt Lance Armstrong another blow on Friday in his bid to keep a firm from collecting US$12 million it paid the disgraced cyclist in bonus money.
The court denied Armstrong’s motion for temporary relief he had filed earlier this month in an effort to block SCA Promotions’ attempt to recover money it paid him after an arbitration proceeding in 2006 as bonuses for his 2002, 2003 and 2004 Tour de France wins.
Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and handed a life ban from the sport, eventually admitting last year that all seven of his Tour de France triumphs were fueled by banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Texas-based SCA had withheld a US$5 million bonus it was scheduled to pay after Armstrong’s sixth Tour de France win in 2004 because of doping allegations circulating in Europe.
Armstrong took SCA to court and won the case in arbitration, but since his ban and admission of doping, SCA has sought to recoup the money from Armstrong and the US Postal Service cycling team’s parent company, Tailwind Sports, along with legal fees and interest.
Armstrong is scheduled to give a sworn deposition on June 12 in the case, and Friday’s decision paves the way for that to go ahead.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB