■ GOLF
Seve speaks to family
Five-time major winner Seve Ballesteros has spoken to his family as he makes progress in his recovery from a third operation on a brain tumor. “Seve Ballesteros continues to evolve favorably. He is conscious, is breathing spontaneously and can talk with his family,” said a statement from Madrid’s La Paz hospital on Monday. “He has begun to receive rehabilitation treatment in the intensive care unit.” The 51-year-old Spaniard underwent his third operation on a brain tumor just over a week ago. His family also posted a statement on the golfer’s official web site on Monday, thanking everyone for their messages of support. “Seve is putting as much positive strength in this battle as he is capable of,” said the family. “With the help of God, the neurosurgeons and their teams, and those who are keeping watch over his state of health at the intensive care unit, we trust with unquestioning faith Seve will come out successfully from this hardship.”
■ SOCCER
Coach slams spitting Messi
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has criticized the team’s star forward Lionel Messi for spitting at an opponent during a Spanish league game with Malaga on Saturday. Television cameras caught Argentina’s Messi spitting at midfielder Sergio “Duda” Barbosa after a collision between the players during Barcelona’s 4-1 victory. “It’s not right for these things to happen. We will try to avoid this type of thing,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by the Web site of sports daily Marca on Monday.
■ SOCCER
Star quits clean-up effort
Former Greek star striker Demis Nikolaidis this weekend announced he was quitting a four-year effort to clean up finances and curb hooliganism at Athens powerhouse AEK Athens. Nikolaidis, who had a rocky relationship with AEK’s organized supporters after he fronted a group of alleged club hooligans three years ago, quit on Sunday when the team was booed after a narrow 2-1 home victory over Asteras Tripolis. “I had hoped to change the mentality of the fans but I did not succeed,” the former AEK idol told reporters. “I cannot be the chairman of a team booed by its fans after it scores.” Nikolaidis had been hailed as a breath of fresh air in Greece’s violence-ridden soccer scene after he spearheaded an investor effort to rescue AEK from bankruptcy in 2004. Within a year, he ordered the photos of alleged AEK hooligans published in an unprecedented step to secure arrests after a serious clash between fans and police during a match in Livadia, central Greece.
■ BOXING
Olympic champ to turn pro
China’s first Olympic boxing gold medalist Zou Shiming has shelved plans to defend his title in London in 2012 and will instead turn professional next year, local media reported on Monday. Zou claimed gold in the light-flyweight category at August’s Beijing Games. “I want a professional golden belt for my country. I think I am capable,” the 27-year-old Zou told the Beijing News. “The professional contests are easier and more attractive to watch.” Zou earned the country’s first Olympic boxing medal with a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games and China has gone from strength to strength on the amateur stage. However, while Zhang Xiyan won the women’s World Boxing Council crown in 2006, the men have struggled on the professional circuit.
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
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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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