Former Olympic race walking gold medalist Alex Schwazer was handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence on Monday under a plea bargain deal with prosecutors investigating him for doping, and he hopes to compete again.
Schwazer, who won the 50km walk at the 2008 Beijing Games, failed an out-of-competition test before arriving at the 2012 London Olympics and was removed from Italy’s team before competing.
He admitted using the blood-boosting hormone EPO, and said he was quitting the sport.
Schwazer now wants to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, with his three-and-a-half-year ban from the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) expiring in January 2016. However, CONI is still investigating him and could extend his ban.
Doping is also a criminal offense in Italy, and Bolzano prosecutor Guido Rispoli has been leading an inquiry attempting to show that coaches and doctors knew that Schwazer was doping long before he tested positive, possibly dating to Beijing.
Meanwhile, Schwazer’s former girlfriend and former figure skating world champion Carolina Kostner will be judged by CONI’s anti-doping court on Jan. 16 over whether she helped cover up Schwazer’s use of banned drugs by helping him avoid a test.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
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LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
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