ATHLETICS
Handover a ‘logistics’ issue
There is an “understanding” on how crucial data on drug use by Russian athletes is to be handed over to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose representatives arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said. WADA officials are making their third visit to retrieve the Moscow laboratory data, which could help the agency file doping charges against numerous Russian athletes it believes doped in previous years. Russia missed a deadline to hand over the data by Dec. 31, meaning the Russian Anti-Doping Agency could face sanctions from WADA. “There were some working disagreements, which arose last time, related to which storage devices [the data] will be transferred onto and how, and so on. I would say these are not so much substantial matters as issues of logistics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. “As far as we know via our sports authorities, there are intensive contacts under way and now understanding has been reached with the WADA representatives regarding how the work will continue.” WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said that the three-person team had arrived in the Russian capital. “They look forward to starting their work tomorrow,” Fitzgerald told reporters by e-mail. WADA estimates that the team will stay three days, Fitzgerald said, but “it could be longer, could be shorter.”
CYCLING
Grove ‘over’ loss of record
A 90-year-old cyclist who was stripped of his world record after a failed drug test has questioned the wisdom of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s decision. The agency has admitted that Carl Grove’s failed test was probably due to his inadvertent consumption of contaminated meat, but said that it still had to issue him with a public warning, the least serious punishment available. Grove this week told reporters that he believes taxpayers’ money would be better spent on catching more serious offenders. “Us old guys are kind of like peanuts. I think that they’re wasting their time,” he said. “I think that somewhere there ought to be a cutoff and they ought to zero in on the stuff that is done for money reasons or whatever it may be. But I think after 65 or 70, you know, they ought to just give up.” Grove tested positive for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of banned substance trenbolone, at last year’s US Masters Track National Championships, where he won the 90 to 94 age group sprint title. The former US Navy Band saxophonist, who played for US presidents during his time in the armed forces, said that the decision had initially hurt him. “I was really kind of down for a while, but I’m over it,” Grove said. Grove said that he is determined to continue his cycling career. His next goal is the world record for the distance ridden in an hour in the 90 to 95 age bracket. Grove is to turn 91 on July 13.
TENNIS
Jason Jung falls in qualifiers
Taiwan’s Jason Jung yesterday crashed out of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. In the second qualifying round for the men’s singles, world No. 120 Jung lost 2-6, 3-6 to world No. 185 Hiroki Moriya of Japan. Moriya broke Jung three times at the start of the match and ran away with the first set 6-1. In the second set, Jung managed to draw level at 3-3 in a seesaw battle, but eventually lost, ending his chance to advance in the tournament.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
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