■OLYMPICS
Norwegian loses medal
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday re-awarded Norway’s team showjumping bronze at last year’s Beijing Games to Switzerland after Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen’s doping ban was confirmed. “The executive board decided to disqualify rider Tony Andre Hansen from the individual jumping competition and team jumping competition events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, as a consequence of the positive doping test,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. The IOC’s move followed a ruling by the Court of Arbitration of Sport last week, confirming a ban on Hansen and dismissing the Norwegian rider’s appeal against being stripped of an Olympic showjumping bronze medal.
■BASKETBALL
Lakers most valuable
The Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA’s most valuable team, while 12 others lost money in the 2008-2009 season, Forbes magazine said. In its annual listing of the value of NBA teams, Forbes found the Lakers to be worth US$607 million, up 4 percent for the league champions. Second are the New York Knicks at US$586 million, but that is a 4 percent drop. The Knicks led the rankings for the four previous seasons. The Chicago Bulls (US$511 million), Detroit Pistons (US$479 million) and Cleveland Cavaliers (US$476 million) round out the top five. At the bottom of the 30-team rankings are the Milwaukee Bucks at US$254 million. The league average worth is US$367 million, down 4 percent, according to Forbes.
■BASKETBALL
Tim Thomas linked to brawl
Dallas Mavericks forward Tim Thomas was at a Dallas restaurant when a fight broke out on Wednesday linked to a dispute between him and another patron. Damien Pettie, 29, told police he approached Thomas and a group of people at a Denny’s 24-hour restaurant at about 3am and said, “Hey, what’s up?” to the player. Thomas responded by swearing at Pettie and using racial and gay slurs, according to the police report. Pettie swore back, and told police that at that point he was hit in the face by someone in Thomas’ party. “Then all parties within both groups began to throw chairs, knock over tables and fight each other,” the report said. The fight broke up after the manager said he had called police. Thomas and his group left before officers arrived.
■SOCCER
Magpies drive accelerates
Newcastle’s drive back to the Premier League accelerated on Wednesday as the Magpies claimed a 2-0 win at Coventry to pull seven points clear at the top of the Championship table. Goals from Shola Ameobi, on his first appearance since August, and substitute Nile Ranger gave Newcastle the points from a scrappy encounter at the Ricoh Arena. Wednesday’s other Championship match ended with the spoils shared, Barnsley and Scunthorpe having drawn 1-1.
■BOBSLED
US’ Hays injured in crash
US Olympic bobsled hopeful Todd Hays crashed in training in Winterberg, Germany, on Wednesday and is expected to miss the weekend World Cup races because of what was preliminarily diagnosed as a concussion. The 40-year-old driver was held in hospital overnight for observation. Training was halted for about 15 minutes after Hays’ crash, which came amid poor visibility brought on by foggy, rainy conditions, although the USBSF did not say what exactly led to the mishap. The other three members of Hays’ four-man team were not injured.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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