■ CANOEING
Germany’s Grimm gets gold
Alexander Grimm of Germany struck gold in his first Olympics by dominating his whitewater canoeing event yesterday, while Slovak Michal Martikan got another gold 12 years after his first. Grimm, 21, managed a superb second run through the gates in the K1 competition to win the gold in 171.70 seconds. It was the first gold for Germany in Beijing after failures and poor results in the previous days. Fabien Lefevre of France took silver with 173.30. First-run leader Benjamin Boukpeti of Togo got the first ever medal in the sport for Africa, a bronz CANOEINGe in 173.45 seconds.
■ FIELD HOCKEY
Hockeyroos blast Spain
Former champions Australia came from behind for the second time in as many matches to blast Spain 6-1 in the women’s field hockey yesterday. The Hockeyroos, who overcame a 1-4 deficit against South Korea to win 5-4 on Sunday, once again found themselves up against it after Spain’s Silvia Munoz gave her team the lead in the sixth minute. Angela Lambert ensured it was 1-1 at the break with a penalty corner hit in the 27th minute, sparking a breathtaking Australian display in the second session. Meanwhile, world No. 2 Argentina suffered their second setback when Britain came back from 0-2 behind to force a 2-2 draw in Pool B.
■ WATER POLO
Montenegro rout Canada
Montenegro routed Canada 12-0 in men’s water polo yesterday, and the US upset Italy in preliminary play. Montenegro opened with three goals in the first period, and Nikola Vukcevic, Mladjan Janovic and Vladimir Gojkovic scored two goals each in the first match of the day. Javier Garcia scored three goals to help Spain beat Australia 9-8. Spain led 6-4 after two periods, and held on to win despite being outscored in the second half. Gavin Woods and Thomas Whalan scored two each for Australia. The US, ranked ninth in the world and trying to get back on the medal stand for the first time since 1988, upset Italy 12-11, with Jeffrey Powers scoring three goals and Tony Azevedo adding two. In other matches, Hungary beat Greece 17-6, Croatia defeated Serbia 11-8 and Germany edged China 6-5.
■ VOLLEYBALL
US men 2-0 in pool play
The US men’s volleyball team, playing with energy and determination after the tragedy that shook them, defeated Italy 3-1 yesterday. Still without head coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose in-laws were attacked in Beijing over the weekend, the US team adjusted after a sluggish start to win 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21. The US men are 2-0 in preliminary pool play after a victory over Venezuela in their opener. The Italians are 1-1 having defeated Japan to open the tournament. In other early matches yesterday, Russia defeated Germany 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 21-25, 25-13, 16-14) and Poland beat Egypt 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-10).
■ HANDBALL
China-France spat forgotten
Bad blood between France and China appeared to have been forgotten four days into the Games, with home fans cheering happily at the handball arena throughout their team’s losing battle with a more experienced French side. “From my side, I haven’t really heard of any problems in China-French relations,” French handball coach Claude Onesta told reporters. Chinese coach Yan Weiming said the preliminary round match, which France won 33-19, was unaffected by any political sparring. In other Group A games yesterday, Croatia beat Brazil 33-14 and Spain beat Poland 30-29.
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After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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