■ BIATHLON
Bjoerndalen dominates
Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway blew away his rivals by claiming his 78th career success in the World Cup men's biathlon mass start event on Sunday. Despite two penalties for missed targets the 33-year-old Bjoerndalen finished 34 seconds ahead of Russian Nikolay Kruglov (1 penalty) with Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen picking up three penalties to finish at 54 seconds. Four-time World Cup winner Bjoerndalen has dominated in Oberhof, Germany, winning Friday's relay and finishing second in Saturday's sprint. He consolidates his overall World Cup lead with a 40 point advantage on Russia's Dmitri Yaroshenko, who finished fourth on Sunday.
■ SNOWBOARDING
Gimpl wins World Cup event
Stefan Gimpl won his second straight Big Air snowboarding World Cup event on Saturday to take the lead in the discipline standings. The 28-year-old Austrian, who also won last month in Sofia, earned his third career World Cup win by beating Matti Kinnunen of Finland in the final at the Messegelaende Graz, Austria. Gimpl earned 25.6 points for his two final jumps, while Kinnunen's efforts were rewarded with 16.4 points. Finland's Petja Piiroinen beat Kim-Andre Eliasen of Norway in the small final to take third.
■ BIATHLON
Neuner records first win
Germany's triple world champion Magdalena Neuner won the women's mass start World Cup biathlon race in Oberhof, Germany, on Sunday to record her first victory of what had been a disappointing start to the season. The 20-year-old warmed up the 80,000 spectators on her home turf to beat home Russian duo Olga Anasimova and Tatiana Moiseeva and hand out a warning to her rivals that she is approaching top form just a month away from the world championships in Oestersund, Sweden. Neuner's compatriot Martina Glagow retained the overall lead despite finishing a lowly 12th, while Neuner moved into third, 26 points adrift.
■ LUGE
Huefner extends win streak
Tatjana Huefner led a top-four sweep for Germany in the women's luge on Saturday and claimed a fourth straight World Cup win. Huefner finished in 1 minute, 34.662 seconds, setting a track-record 47.262 seconds in the second heat to beat 19-year-old Natalie Geisenberger by 0.134 seconds and deny her a first World Cup triumph. "I have a little time left," Geisenberger said. "Sometime I'll get that first World Cup win." Silke Kraushaar-Pielach was third in 1 minute, 34.980 seconds, while Anke Wischnewski took fourth in 1 minute, 35.405 seconds.
■ OLYMPICS
Blast furnace shut down
Beijing's biggest steel company has shut down another blast furnace in an effort to clean up the city before the Olympics, state media said on Sunday. The Beijing Shougang Group, one of the capital city's major polluters, on Saturday extinguished the fire in its No. 4 blast furnace which has been working for 35 years, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The No. 5 furnace was closed several months ago. Air quality has been a major concern and shutting down the blast furnaces is expected to help reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide, dust and soot by about half. The No. 2 furnace will be shut down by March and operations at No. 3 will be suspended during the games, Xinhua said.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
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