OLYMPICS
CONI endorses Rome’s bid
Rome’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games was unanimously endorsed by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Thursday in what bid president Luca di Montezemolo described as an important signal of support. CONI’s 64 members all voted to back the candidacy at a meeting held in Milan. Rome’s rivals to stage the games include Boston, Hamburg and Paris. “This was not only a formal step, but also an important signal of support from across the world of Italian sport for an event that is, at heart, a celebration of sport and its athletes,” Di Montezemolo said in a statement issued by the Rome bid. “It was very pleasing to receive the full backing and encouragement of the federation presidents at Coni today.” “The fact that this message of support was delivered in Milan is also of great significance, because the Rome Games will not simply be an Olympics of the Capital, but the Olympics of all Italy,” he added. “Venues will not be restricted to the city limits, but spread across the nation. We want these Games to be an opportunity for growth and investment for the whole country — a sporting festival that will represent a triumph of beauty, culture, technology and sustainability.” Former Ferrari president Di Montezemolo, who also led the organizing committee when Italy hosted the 1990 World Cup, was appointed in February to lead the bid.
RUGBY UNION
Muliaina formally charged
British police have charged former All Blacks rugby star Mils Muliaina with sexual assault over an incident that took place in Cardiff four months ago, it was reported yesterday. The 34-year-old fullback, who won 100 caps for the All Blacks over a nine-year period, was charged after being interviewed by South Wales Police on Wednesday, the New Zealand Herald reported. “Mils Muliaina has been charged with sexual assault on a female aged 16 or over. He is scheduled to appear at Cardiff Magistrates Court on the 7th August 2015,” a police statement cited by the newspaper said. Muliaina was arrested in early April after playing for Irish club Connacht in a loss to Gloucester, with television pictures showing police leading him from Kingsholm Stadium. He was bailed after agreeing to return to Wales on July 1 for further police interviews. The Herald reported that the alleged assault, on a 19-year-old Cardiff woman, occurred in the first week of March on the same night Muliaina was out with teammates in the Welsh capital.
CYCLING
Brazilian dies in crash
A Brazilian cyclist was killed and two other riders were critically injured in a crash on Thursday during an international bicycle race near Washington, police said. One cyclist blew out a tire and lost control, colliding with the other two riders at the annual World Police and Fire Games, which drew about 12,000 first responders and law enforcers to compete in sporting events in the Washington area, police said. Carlos Silva, 48, died from his injuries a few hours after the early-afternoon crash in Dumfries, Virginia, about 56km south of Washington, Prince William County police said. The other injured cyclists, identified only as two men aged 44 and 43, were hospitalized in critical condition. The 10-day event draws competitors from about 70 nations to compete in events that include hockey, tennis, wrestling, archery, shooting and swimming. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our injured competitors,” event officials wrote on Facebook.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier