FOOTBALL
Peterson faces new trouble
Suspended Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson faced new legal trouble on Thursday after Texas prosecutors in his child abuse case asked a court to order his arrest on a possible drug-related bond violation. Peterson, 29, who has been accused of injuring his four-year-old son while disciplining him with the thin end of a tree branch, allegedly told a drug-testing administrator on Wednesday he had smoked marijuana before submitting to a urinalysis test, court papers said. “During this process the defendant admitted ... that he smoked a little weed,” according to the motion filed by Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon. A court date has not been set on the possible bond violation. Peterson’s next scheduled court date is Nov. 4. Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, declined to comment. Neither the Vikings nor the National Football League (NFL) immediately responded to requests for comment.
FOOTBALL
Dre headphones lead to fine
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said on Thursday the NFL had fined him US$10,000 for appearing at a post-game press conference with Beats by Dre headphones around his neck. Kaepernick has a sponsorship deal with Beats by Dre, but rival manufacturer Bose has a league-wide deal that makes it the “Official Sound of the NFL.” Last year Kaepernick was asked not to wear his headphones during a press conference in London — a request he ignored, although it is not known if he was fined that time. On Sunday, Kaepernick sported bright pink headphones — reported to be a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness — as he addressed the media following the 49ers’ victory over Kansas City. Asked if Beats by Dre paid his fine, Kaepernick said: “We’ll let that be unanswered.”
RUGBY UNION
Aussies recall Cooper
Quade Cooper has been recalled to Australia’s training squad for the first time this year for next week’s third Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand. The 26-year-old Cooper, who is coming back from surgery on his left shoulder, was included in a 32-man squad yesterday, a day after Kurtley Beale was dropped pending the outcome of a code-of-conduct tribunal hearing. Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said he wanted to see how Cooper, a 50-Test veteran, trained and performed after nine months out of the national team. He is to cut the squad to 23 players next week, with Cooper likely to take a spot on the bench if he is fit. Fiji-born winger Henry Speight was also included in the squad, among four uncapped players, but is unavailable due to a hamstring problem. Center Matt Toomua was not considered due to a recent concussion.
RUGBY UNION
Fruean dropped for Williams
Center Robbie Fruean, who has defied a chronic heart condition to play Super Rugby for three New Zealand teams, has lost his contract with the Chiefs to make way for code-hopping star Sonny Bill Williams. Fruean has played for New Zealand at junior level, played provincial rugby for Wellington, Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay, and Super Rugby for the Hurricanes, the Crusaders and the Chiefs. He came close to winning All Blacks selection two years ago before illness intervened. The Chiefs yesterday announced Fruean will not be contracted next season. Head coach Dave Rennie said Williams’ return after two years in rugby league forced the change.
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