■ SKATING
French pair take gold
Years of hard work finally paid off for French ice dancing veterans Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder on Friday when they claimed their first gold in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the world figure skating championships. The six-time French national champions, who have skated together for 18 years, had never made it to the podium at worlds before. They led the dance sections earlier in the week and sealed victory with a routine to the soundtrack from The Piano, which included sign language. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took silver with Russians Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski taking bronze after the free dance final.
■ CYCLING
Anti-doping official sued
Cycling's governing body is suing former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Dick Pound. The International Cycling Union (UCI) and its former president Hein Verbruggen have lodged a complaint in a Swiss court over what they call Pound's "continual injurious and biased comments." The dispute centers on comments by Pound criticizing the role of UCI and Verbruggen in fighting doping in cycling. Pound stepped down this year after heading WADA for eight years. He has regularly clashed with Verbruggen and the UCI over the doping scandals that have rocked the sport. In explaining its course of action, the UCI said that "Pound has publicly questioned the extent of the UCI's efforts in the fight against doping." Pound did not immediately respond on Friday to a message. The Canadian is currently running for the presidency of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, which has settled a number of high-profile doping cases in cycling.
■ RUGBY UNION
White keen on England job
Jake White, the coach who led South Africa to World Cup glory last year, has reiterated his desire to replace Brian Ashton as England head coach if the job were to become available. White, speaking to the Guardian newspaper, also made it clear that the England job was the only one that interested him in world rugby and that he would rule out any chance to step into the vacancy left by Eddie O'Sullivan with Ireland. "I've made no secret of the fact that the job has always appealed to me," White said. "But England have their own review process under way and must decide what's right for them." The English Rugby Football Union are due to decide on the future of Brian Ashton next week and there is speculation that he will either step down voluntarily or be asked to leave.
■ SOCCER
Ancelotti dismisses rumors
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed speculation he is set to take over as Italy coach from Roberto Donadoni after Euro 2008. "It pleases me to hear my name linked to the Azzurri bench, but I believe it is impossible," Ancelotti told a news conference on Friday. "I could only train the national team after 2010 [when my contract with Milan expires]. Donadoni deserves to stay, he is doing well and I hope he faces the European Championship with the utmost calm and takes the national team to the 2010 World Cup." Thursday's Italian Soccer Federation statement that Donadoni's future would not be decided until after Euro 2008 in June had fuelled media speculation linking Ancelotti to the job.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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