■ATHLETICS
CAS reinstates medalists
World sport’s highest court on Thursday reinstated Olympic medals for two Belarusian hammer throwers, saying their doping tests were mishandled by the Beijing laboratory. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said doping tests of Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan were invalid because international laboratory standards were not respected in what it said was an “unusually complex doping case.” CAS said the medals should be returned. Devyatovskiy and Tsikhan won silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They tested positive for elevated testosterone after the hammer throw final and were disqualified and stripped of the medals by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The silver medal was subsequently given to Krisztian Pars of Hungary and the bronze to Koji Murofushi of Japan. Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia won the gold medal. The IOC said it was disappointed by the CAS ruling, was studying its contents and “considering all possible options.” Devyatovskiy and Tsikhan denied doping and appealed to the CAS to overturn the IOC ruling. Although the CAS upheld their appeal on Thursday, it said the decision “should not be interpreted as an exoneration of the athletes,” and the court did not say the athletes are free of any doping suspicion.
■MOTORCYCLING
Rider dies at Isle of Man TT
New Zealand’s Paul Dobbs became the latest motorcyclist to die while competing at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) event when he lost his life on Thursday in a Supersport race, organizers said. The 39-year-old was involved in a “racing incident” and leaves a wife and two children. Jim Parker, chairman of organizers the Auto Cycle Union, told www.iomtt.com: “Paul was a really popular rider in the paddock and was a great competitor. He was a very talented rider who made many friends in the racing community. He will be sorely missed.” Dobbs, who finished 22nd in Monday’s first Supersport race, competed at the TT for the first time in 1999, recording a best finish of sixth in the 400cc lightweight race in 2000. More than 200 racers have died on the road course on the Isle of Man since the first TT race was first staged more than a century ago.
■CYCLING
Soler a doubt for Tour
Former Tour de France “King of the Mountains” Mauricio Soler is in doubt for next month’s race because of a knee problem, his Caisse d’Epargne team said on Thursday. Soler, 27, hurt his knee in a crash earlier this week in the Dauphine Criterium, a key warm-up for the Tour de France. The Colombian battled on but finally surrendered to the pain, and a swollen knee, after finishing well behind in Wednesday’s third stage time trial. “We’ll see if he’s fit to ride the Route du Sud [June 17 to 20],” Soler’s team sports director Yvon Ledanois said. “If he can’t then his chances of the Tour are virtually nil because he won’t be fit enough to be competitive.”
■SPORTSCAR RACING
Bourdais fastest at Le Mans
Sebastien Bourdais put Peugeot on pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar classic with the French manufacturer locking out the top four places on Thursday. Bourdais, a four times ChampCar champion in the US and ex-Formula One driver, made sure of the top spot with a best lap of three minutes 19.711 seconds set in Wednesday evening’s qualifying session. Nobody came close to beating that time on the damp and slippery 13.4km Sarthe track on Thursday.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS