ATHLETICS
Bolt mulls 200m in London
Usain Bolt has left the door open to running in both the 100m and 200m at next year’s world championships, where he said he would be more focused on protecting his legacy than topping his world records. The Jamaican, who last month drew down the curtain on his Olympic career by securing a sweep of the sprint titles for a third successive Games, said his plan was to only contest the 100m in London, but that his coach has other ideas. “That’s the plan, but I still have to discuss it with my coach,” Bolt told Television Jamaica on Tuesday. “[Glen Mills] still wants me to do the double, but I’ve told him I would really like to just do the 100m, so at the start of the season we’ll decide exactly what [to focus on], but that’s what’s on my mind.” Bolt, who set the 100m and 200m world records of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds in 2009, said he is not planning to top either of those times.
BASKETBALL
NBA suspends McGary again
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Mitch McGary is to miss the first 15 games of the NBA season after being hit with a second drug suspension, the league confirmed on Tuesday. McGary was slapped with a 10-game ban after violating the terms of the league’s drug policy, the NBA said in a statement. The suspension is to begin after he has served a five-game ban for a failed drug test announced in July. McGary, 24, has played just 52 games for the Thunder since being selected as a first-round pick in 2014. He played only 72 minutes for the Thunder last season, averaging 1.3 points per game, before his season came to an end for “personal reasons” in April.
SOCCER
Ceferin wins UEFA election
Aleksander Ceferin, the president of Slovenia’s soccer federation, was yesterday overwhelmingly elected as the new president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) at an extraordinary congress. Ceferin, 48, beat Dutchman Michael van Praag, the only other candidate, by 42 votes to 13 and is to succeed Frenchman Michel Platini, who announced his resignation in May after being banned from soccer for four years for ethics violations. Ceferin, who is not a member of UEFA’s executive committee, was little known outside his own country until he announced his intention to run in June. “I am not a showman, I have no ego issues and I am not a man of unrealistic promises,” he told delegates before the vote. Each of UEFA’s 55 member associations had one vote in the election.
TENNIS
Stefkova eliminates Beck
Defending champion Annika Beck of Germany was on Tuesday upset by Barbora Stefkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of the Coupe Banque Nationale, one of four seeded players to fall on the second day of the tournament. The Czech player had fallen in the final round of qualifying, but was added to the main draw as a lucky loser after Bethanie Mattek-Sands withdrew from the tournament. In other matches, Canadian wild card Francoise Abanda defeated sixth-seeded Mona Barthel of Germany 7-6 (9/7), 6-4; Oceane Dodin of France knocked out fifth-seeded Naomi Broady of Britain 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; and Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia beat fourth-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (7/1).
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