■HORSE RACING
Jockey fined for Hitler jibe
Irish jockey John Egan was fined A$8,000 (US$5,370) yesterday for describing Australian veterinary surgeons as a “couple of tin pot Hitlers.” Egan made the remark at the weekend after vets ordered his mount Yellowstone to undergo an additional fitness test before being allowed to run in today’s Melbourne Cup. Yellowstone injured his hip in his stall last week and was eventually scratched on the eve of the race on vet’s advice. Australian racing stewards took a dim view of Egan’s remarks, charging him with bringing the sport into disrepute. Egan pleaded guilty to the offense but said his remarks were not aimed at the vets. Racing Appeals Disciplinary Board chairman Russell Lewis described Egan as an unreliable witness whose comments were reprehensible.
■SOCCER
‘Spider Hands’ returns
A year after being banned from the national team for a late-night drinking session during the Asian Cup, veteran South Korea goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae has been called up to the squad for a World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. Coach Huh Jung-moo included Lee in his 25-man squad for the Nov. 19 game in Riyadh. Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung, AS Monaco striker Park Chu-young and Borussia Dortmund defender Lee Young-pyo were also called up to the squad announced yesterday. Goalkeeper Lee was axed from the national team last year after he and three other players left the team hotel to go drinking following Korea’s shock 2-1 loss to Bahrain in the Asian Cup in Jakarta. The 35-year-old, nicknamed “Spider Hands,” was also ordered to serve 80 hours of public service and his international career looked over after the Korea Football Association said the episode had tarnished the reputation of Korean soccer.
■SOCCER
Obama defeated
A local soccer team christened Obama FC were beaten 1-0 in a tournament held in western Kenya on the weekend. The Obama Big Day Soccer Tournament was organized by Barack Obama’s step-brother Malik Obama in anticipation of the senator’s victory in today’s US presidential elections. Obama FC goalkeeper Boaz Okelo blamed a player in the opposing team of leaking to his team mates that he had an elbow injury, which they exploited in a penalty shoot out after the match ended in a draw after regular time. “The other players were kicking the ball towards my injured elbow,” Okelo said on Sunday, a day after Obama FC were eliminated in the knock-out stages of the tournament. Originally called Kogelo FC — named after the village of Obama’s Kenyan father — the team changed its name to Obama FC in 2004 when the Democrat first made headlines after giving an electrifying speech at the Democratic Party convention.
■SOCCER
Bolton climb from drop zone
Bolton scored twice in the last 13 minutes on Sunday to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 2-0 win over visiting Manchester City. Substitute Ricardo Gardner met a cross from the right for his first league goal since December 2002. City captain Richard Dunne then capped a poor performance by his side when he scored an own goal in the 88th minute. “It’s very important for us,” Gardner said. “We can gain confidence from this and we can do even better in our next game than we did today. It’s been a long time, but I’m just glad for the lads. We thoroughly deserved it.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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