■ Germany
Wodajo wins in Cologne
Teferi Wodajo of Ethiopia won the Cologne Marathon in Germany on Sunday in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 18 seconds. Wodajo, the pre-race favorite, finished well ahead of Benjamin Itok, who finished in 2:12:08, and Francis Kiprop, who crossed in 2:12:59. Luminita Zaituc of Germany, a former European Championships silver medalist, won the women's race in 2:28:24. Sun Weiwei of China was second in 2:29:38, followed by Yelena Tichonova of Russia in third in 2:45:54.
■ United States
Kibet wins Rock 'n' Roll
Kenya's Duncan Kibet won the Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon in San Jose, California, on Sunday in 1 hour, 22 seconds, the second-fastest time in the 21.1km event ever in the US. The 28-year-old Kibet's time is second only to Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who set the world record of 58:55 on Jan. 15 in Tempe, Arizona. "I expected to run fast here, but I was worried that the pack would catch me," Kibet said of his fast pace early. "I was happy with my time and the course was very fast." Russia's Silvia Skvortsova won the women's race, pulling away over the final kilometer to edge Edna Kiplagat of Kenya in a personal-best 1:09:17.
■ United States
Ndereba triumphs in Boston
After waiting too long to make his final charge at last year's Boston Athletic Association half marathon, Kenyan Samuel Ndereba learned his lesson. Ndereba won the race on Sunday, beating Richard Kiplagat by more than 12 seconds. Ireland's Marie Davenport won the women's race. Each winner earned US$5,000. Last year, Ndereba -- whose sister Catherine is a four-time women's champion of the Boston Marathon -- waited until the final kilometer to make his push but finished second, 12 seconds behind Celedonio Rodriguez. This time, Rodriguez led a pack of six for much of the first part of the race. Ndereba, Kiplagat and third-place Michael Misoi remained close before leaving Rodriguez behind 8km into the race.
■ Australia
Smith, Carlos attend funeral
Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the historic black power salutes at the 1968 Olympics, have reunited for the final time with the third man on the podium that year. Smith and Carlos attended the funeral yesterday of Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who died last week of a heart attack at the age of 64. The two Americans acted as pallbearers at the funeral attended by about 800 people at a town hall at Williamstown, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Norman won the silver medal in the 200m at the Mexico City Games, his time of 20.06 seconds still a national record. Smith set a world record in winning the gold medal and Carlos took the bronze, and their civil rights protest became a flash point of the Olympics.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
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