ATHLETICS
Taiwan wins Masters medal
Hsu Yung-chung of Taiwan placed third in the 70-74 age group men’s 300m hurdles at the biennial World Masters Athletics Championships in Lyon, France, on Tuesday. Hsu, 73, and Dietmar Steiner of Austria both finished in a time of 50.67 seconds behind the winner, Hans-Jurgen Fruhauf of Germany, but Steiner had a better record in the qualifying rounds and was judged second, while Hsu was awarded third place. In an interview after the event, Hsu said he had learned about the championships in 2013 and been training for the event for only 18 months. At the Asia Championships last year, Hsu won a gold medal in the 400m dash and a silver medal in the 300m hurdles. More than 8,000 athletes are competing in age categories ranging from 35 to 95 at this year’s event, which runs through Sunday.
BOXING
Cotto to defend crown
Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto is to defend his WBC middleweight crown in a 12-round world title fight against former two-time world champion Canelo Alvarez on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. The 34-year-old Cotto, who is the first boxer from Puerto Rico to become world champion in four weight divisions, has 40 wins, four losses and 33 knockouts. Mexico’s Alvarez, 25, has won 32 of his 47 bouts by knockout and has just one defeat. “I have always said during my whole career that I am here to fight the best names and the best fighters,” Cotto said on Thursday. “This fight has something more,” Alvarez said. “It will hold a special place in history as part of the big rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico.”
RUGBY UNION
‘Men In Black’ make advert
New Zealand’s All Blacks have teamed up with former rugby rivals in a Men In Black-themed safety video produced for national carrier Air New Zealand. The video, shown on all the company’s domestic and international flights, features coach Steven Hansen, players Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Israel Dagg, along with former Wallabies winger David Campese and former England captain Martin Johnson. US actor Rip Torn, who appeared with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the chief of the shadowy Men in Black agency in the franchise’s three movies, appears in that role.
SOCCER
Leicester fines Vardy
Leicester has fined striker Jamie Vardy after he was filmed apparently calling a Japanese man a “Jap” in a casino. Footage published by the Sun newspaper appeared to show Vardy using the derogatory word for a Japanese person three times to a fellow gambler in a Leicester casino last month. Vardy has issued an apology and Leicester says it has now handed him a “substantial fine and prescribed a program of diversity awareness training.”
ATHLETICS
British kit criticized
Olympic long-jump champion Greg Rutherford has criticized the lack of a British flag on the team’s world championships kit. Rutherford posted a picture of the vest on Twitter and said: “Well this isn’t right ... Where’s the Union Jack!?!?” The vest is emblazoned with the words “Great Britain” and also features the logos for British Athletics and Nike on a large white “V” section at the top. There are small red sections on the sides of the vest, which is mostly blue. Although the colors of the Union Jack feature, the flag itself is absent. Rutherford tweeted: “This new kit is ridiculous ... and wrong.” He added: “This isn’t a British kit anymore. It’s promoting British Athletics the company.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
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