■ 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.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
‘EVERYONE SAW’: The visitors were left fuming after Jules Kounde was fouled by Claudio Echeverri in the buildup to the winning goal and it went unpunished Spanish champions Barcelona on Monday fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat at Girona to leave them trailing Real Madrid by two points at the top of La Liga. Los Blancos beat Real Sociedad on Saturday to overtake the Catalans and Hansi Flick’s side could not defeat Girona in an gripping derby clash to reclaim the lead. Teenage star Lamine Yamal missed a penalty for Barcelona, who took the lead through defender Pau Cubarsi just before the hour mark. However, goals from Thomas Lemar and Fran Beltran helped Girona, 12th, mount an impressive comeback. “In the end Girona deserved it, they had a lot of
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