■BOXING
Hungarian dies in training
Hungarian boxer Andras Nagy died on Thursday during a training stint in Melbourne, Australia, ahead of a light heavyweight bout he was preparing for later this month, the president of his country’s boxing federation said. Nagy suffered a brain hemorrhage on May 1, Sandor Csotonyia told reporters. Nagy, 23, died after twice unergoing emergency surgery, Csotonyia added. The fighter, who had won his first three pro bouts, arrived in Australia in January in a bid to earn some money and study English and had scheduled a first contest Down Under on May 22.
■ATHLETICS
Bolt back on track
Olympic sprint king Usain Bolt returned to training on Thursday for the first time since he crashed his car in a ditch along a Jamaican highway last month. The treble Beijing gold medalist showed no ill effects when he trained for the first time in more than a week. “He came out today just to feel himself out,” Bolt’s coach Glen Mills said. “He did some strides just to feel how his foot feels. He still has a slight discomfort, but nothing major.” Bolt crashed his car in a ditch along a rain-slick road on April 29. He later had a procedure on his left foot to remove thorns that he stepped in as he exited the car. Bolt had the stitches removed on Tuesday. Bolt is slated to race a 150m at the Manchester Street race on May 17, but Mills said it was still too early to say if Bolt would run.
■OLYMPICS
Canadians tout seal skin
Canadian parliamentarians want their Olympic team to wear seal skin on their uniforms at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games in protest of a EU import ban on seal products. Local news reports said on Thursday that an according — non-binding — motion from the Bloc Quebocois was supported by all parteies and that the Games from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28 are to promote seal products. Opposing seal hunting carried out by Canada and ther countries, the EU on Tuesday decided on an import ban for all seal products. However, Canadian Olympic Committee president Mike Chambers was quoted as saying that seal products on the uniforms would politicize the Games.
■INDY RACING
Andretti sets the pace
Marco Andretti is the fastest driver after the first full day of practice for the Indianapolis 500. Thirty-two drivers were on the track on Thursday, with Andretti’s top lap at 225.478mph (362.85kph). Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe were next, followed by defending champion Scott Dixon and his Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti. Robert Doornbos was the fastest rookie and seventh overall. The slowest was Stanton Barrett, who finished his rookie test.
■BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Tournaments postponed
Three international beach volleyball tournaments scheduled for Mexico this month were postponed because of concerns over the swine flu outbreak. Events in Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta will be pushed back to June, and the one in Baja California will be played in September, Roosevelt Comarazamy, a spokesman for the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Federation, said on Thursday. The primary international circuit, FIVB Swatch Tour, does not have any events scheduled in Mexico, but the women’s junior world championships are scheduled for Tijuana and Mexicali from July 16 to July 25. A contingency plan was in place if Mexico was deemed unsafe, the FIVB said.
■BASEBALL
Diamondbacks sack Melvin
The Arizona Diamondbacks sacked manager Bob Melvin on Thursday, hoping a new hand at the helm can turn around a disappointing season for the young team. “This is a difficult decision, but I feel that our organization needs to move forward with a new voice,” general manager Josh Byrnes said in a statement. Hitting coach Rick Schu was also sent packing, and pitching coach Bryan Price resigned. The club said Melvin’s replacement would be announced at a press conference prior to their home game against Washington yesterday.
■ICE HOCKEY
Police investigate threats
Police are investigating a death threat directed at Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin that was posted on a NHL Internet message board. The Capitals said they were alarmed by the threat and notified police. “We became aware of an inappropriate comment on a message board and referred it to the appropriate authorities,” a statement issued on Thursday by the Capitals said. The message talked about killing Ovechkin and the writer said he didn’t care if he went to jail. Pittsburgh TV station WPXI reported that the author is a 17-year-old who lives in the Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, area. olice searched a home and seized a laptop computer in connection with the incident, the report said.
■DIVING
Chinese win in Florida
Olympic champions Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia of China won the women’s synchronized 3m springboard at the USA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday. Guo and Wu scored 335.10 points to easily head off Kelci Bryant and Ariel Rittenhouse of the US. Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape of Italy got the bronze medal. David Boudia and Thomas Finchum of the US won the men’s synchronized platform in a field of five teams without Olympic champions. Britain’s Max Brick and Thomas Daley took the silver medal and Canada’s Reuben Ross and Riley McCormick placed third.
■ATHLETICS
Wariner ready for Osaka
Three-time Olympic track gold medalist Jeremy Wariner has every reason to be confident heading into today’s Osaka Grand Prix given his past form at the stadium. Wariner, who took silver in the 400m at last year’s Beijing Olympics, will contest his specialist event, facing Beijing bronze medalist and fellow American David Neville. Wariner has had good results over the years at Nagai Stadium, running a personal-best 43.45 in winning the 400 last year. He clocked a time of 45.06 last month at the Drake Relays. It was also at Nagai where Wariner won gold in the men’s 400 at the 2007 world championships, leading an American sweep of the podium.
■TENNIS
Transsexual competes
Chilean Andrea Parades von Roth has become the first transsexual to compete in professional women’s tennis since American Renee Richards, who played in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The 37-year-old, who was born as Ernesto Paredes, made her debut at a low-level tournament in Buenos Aires where she failed to win a single game against a British qualifier, Nicola Slater. “This is already a dream come true for me,” she said before going on to lose 0-6, 0-6. Parades was given the go-ahead by the International Tennis Federation in November last year after she submitted documentation detailing her hormone treatment and a sex-change operation carried out in 2000.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was