BOXING
Ferdinand to train to box
Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is looking to become a professional boxer. The 38-year-old is to be trained by former World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Richie Woodhall, who has worked with Britain’s Olympic team. “I have always had a passion for it and this challenge is the perfect opportunity to show people what’s possible,” Ferdinand said in a statement yesterday. “It’s a challenge I’m not taking lightly — clearly not everyone can become a professional boxer — but with the team of experts ... and the drive I have to succeed, anything is possible.” Ferdinand retired from soccer in 2015 after a season at Queens Park Rangers, who he joined following 12 trophy-filled years at United.
CYCLING
Beaumont sets world record
A British endurance cyclist has smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the planet on a bicycle, riding 29,000km in less than 80 days. Mark Beaumont cycled for 18 hours per day and burned more than 9,000 calories every 24 hours as he crossed Poland, Russia, Mongolia, China, Australia and the US. A crash in Russia on the ninth day, in which he broke a tooth and injured his elbow, nearly ended a ride that he said had taken him to a “mental depth” he had never before experienced. “It’s just the sleep deprivation. It’s after weeks and weeks and weeks, it’s just the long, long hours you spend in your head, you know, really battling,” he said. He completed the ride in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes. The record was previously held by New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson, who in 2015 managed the feat in 123 days. A Guinness World Record adjudicator handed the cyclist two world record certificates — one for the round-the-world record, the other for the furthest distance cycled in a single month.
MOTORCYCLING
Rossi returns to training
Italian motorcycling ace Valentino Rossi has returned to training just 18 days after suffering a double leg fracture, his Movistar Yamaha team confirmed. Rossi underwent surgery in Ancona, Italy, on Sept. 1, a day after a crash in training, discharging himself from the hospital the following day. The 38-year-old on Monday rode his first couple of laps around the Misano circuit before the session was cut short by rain, his team said. Rossi missed the San Marino Grand Prix, but remains fourth in the standings, 42 points behind world champion Marc Marquez of Spain and Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso, with five rounds to go.
TENNIS
Blake to testify over arrest
Former professional tennis star James Blake’s mistaken arrest in New York City has become the subject of a disciplinary trial for the arresting officer, who is accused of using excessive force. Blake is expected to testify about the 2015 arrest at a proceeding starting yesterday. His arrest stirred controversy after a security video showed the officer slamming him down and handcuffing him outside a Manhattan hotel. Officer James Frascatore this year rejected an offer to resolve police department internal charges forfeiting vacation days. A police administrative judge is to hear the case and recommend a potentially more severe punishment, including dismissal. Frascatore denies any wrongdoing.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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