■ ATHLETICS
101-year-old to run marathon
Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette. Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon last weekend in 5 hours, 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing company. "I've said I'll attempt it," he said. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better." His sponsorship money will go to the Rhys Daniels Trust, which provides temporary accommodation for the families of patients in specialist children's hospitals. "If I finish, I'll do what I always do and have a pint and a fag," he said. "People ask what is my secret but I haven't got one. They say fags and booze are bad for you -- but I'm still here, aren't I?"
■ SOCCER
Sheffield hero Dooley dies
Derek Dooley, a hero to fans of both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, has died at the age of 78, it was announced on Wednesday. Dooley, born in Sheffield, had the unusual distinction of being a popular figure with supporters of both the northern English city's two major clubs, having starred for Wednesday as a striker before his playing career was ended prematurely by a broken leg, which later had to be amputated. After a couple of appearances for Lincoln City, Dooley joined Wednesday in 1947 and became a prolific scorer for the Owls. But in 1953 he broke his leg in a collision during a game and his career was over. He returned to Hillsborough as manager between 1971 and 1973 before being controversially sacked on Christmas Eve 1973. Dooley then joined Sheffield United, initially as commercial manager and carried out a number of backroom roles at Bramall Lane, including that of chairman, before retiring in 2006.
■ ROWING
Oldest rower set for race
Former US rowing champion Michael Wherley will become the oldest rower to take part in the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race when he competes for Oxford later this month. A triple world champion in the Men's Eight, Wherley will be 36 when Britain's oldest universities meet for the 154th time on the Thames on March 29. Wherley told reporters on Wednesday he was not quite at his physical peak. However, he put this down to a lack of sleep and a three-year break from competing rather than to his age. "Sometimes it's just harder to recover from the training, but it's not necessarily harder to do it," he said.
■ SKIING
Bauer takes World Cup title
Czech cross country skier Lukas Bauer has won the overall nordic skiing World Cup title this season despite missing Wednesday's sprint in Drammen, Norway. Olympic 15km classic silver medalist Bauer cannot be caught by his leading rival Rene Sommerfeldt after the German also withdrew.
■ SAILING
Bad weather hits race
Pelting rain and gusting winds forced the cancelation of Wednesday's racing at the 81st Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta on Biscayne Bay. With three of six races completed, Iain Percy, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the Finn class, and Andrew Simpson of Britain remain in first place overall. "We just got caught in a nasty storm and by the time it cleared up a bit, the fleet had scattered over a 16km radius," Percy said.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
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