CYCLING
Jan Bakelants recovering
Belgian rider Jan Bakelants is on the road to recovery following spinal surgery after suffering multiple fractures to his vertebrae in a horrific fall at the Giro di Lombardia this month. The 31-year-old, who rides for AG2R La Mondiale and is a former Tour de France stage winner, was one of several riders who crashed into a ravine during the tricky descent from the Sormano climb in northern Italy. Apart from the fractured vertebrae, Bakelants also broke seven ribs. After initial treatment in Italy, he was transported to a hospital in Belgium, where he has continued his recovery.
SOCCER
Romulo leads Verona to win
Romulo on Monday fired Hellas Verona to their first success of the Serie A campaign with a 1-0 win over 10-man Benevento. Luca Antei was shown a straight red card in the first half after a rough challenge on Mattia Valoti, and after missing a string of chances Brazilian fullback Romulo volleyed in on 74 minutes. Verona moved out of the relegation zone with their first maximum three points of the season giving them a total of six. Benevento remain stuck to the bottom of the table with eight defeats in as many games and 19 goals conceded.
SOCCER
Celta rout Las Palmas 5-2
Iago Aspas on Monday got his first goals of the season in a hat-trick in RC Celta de Vigo’s 5-2 win over struggling UD Las Palmas in La Liga. After eight matches without a goal for club or country, the Spain international found the net once in the first half and twice in the second as Celta thrashed the home side, despite playing a man down from the 52nd minute. Emre Mor and Pablo Hernandez also scored for Celta at the Estadio Gran Canaria. Las Palmas got on the board through substitutes Vitolo and Loic Remy in second-half injury time. Celta goalkeeper Ruben Blanco was sent off with a straight red card for a committing a foul outside the area while trying to stop a breakaway. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Las Palmas, who dropped to the relegation zone with the result. Celta, who moved to 10th place, dedicated the victory to those affected by wildfires in the Spanish northwest region of Galicia, where the club is based.
SWIMMING
Ervin kneels for US anthem
Olympic 50m freestyle champion Anthony Ervin has joined the ranks of athletes protesting during the US national anthem by kneeling for a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at a swim meet in Brazil. Ervin, 36, who became the oldest man to win an individual Olympic swimming gold with victory in Rio last year, took a knee during the Raia Rapida gala. The veteran US star staged his protest after anchoring the US in the mixed 200m medley relay on Sunday, swimming news Web site SwimSwam reported. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the first athlete to kneel for the anthem in a series of protests last year to draw attention to racial injustice. A fresh wave of protests in the NFL erupted last month after US President Donald Trump derided protesting players as “sons of bitches” who should be fired. Ervin, whose father is a black Vietnam War veteran, appeared to allude to his protest in a post on Twitter on Monday. “My point is to save lives, and understand the imbalance. We all have our area. I’m a swimmer,” Ervin said.
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