OLYMPICS
Delay pushes rower to retire
British rowing gold medalist Tom Ransley on Friday announced his retirement after deciding that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to next year was a step too far. The 34-year-old was part of the men’s eight who won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and also a bronze in the 2012 London Games. “I have used up everything I had and I know that to get myself in the necessary condition to compete for a seat in 2021 is a step too far,” he told the BBC. The years of early starts, of three training sessions a day and a “selfish and monastic existence” to test his body to the limits has taken its toll and the fire is burning out, Ransley added. “A friend suggested that if you stop loving something it is impossible to give it your all — and I believe that she is right.”
TOUR DE FRANCE
Not postponing is ‘madness’
Allowing the Tour de France to go ahead as scheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic would be “madness” and a “crime against humanity,” said David Douillet, an Olympic judo champion and a former French minister of youth affairs and sports. The risks involved in staging the Tour outweigh the financial implications of postponing or canceling it, Douillet said. “God knows I am a fan of the Tour de France — I never miss a stage every summer,” he told France TV. “If we have enough means to ensure that all the players in the Tour and the public can be tested and are all negative, then why not? But that’s not very likely, so it can’t happen. There is no vaccine, nothing — and people are dying.”
OLYMPICS
FIFA extends men’s top age
FIFA has extended the age limit for the men’s soccer tournament at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games due to the pandemic. The Olympic rule amended on Friday retains the “players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997” standard, meaning that players eligible for the intended under-23 tournament this year could still play in Japan at age 24 next year. Men’s soccer kicks off ahead of the opening ceremony in Tokyo on July 23 next year. FIFA also confirmed that no international games for men or women are to be played on the dates in early June reserved for national team call-ups. Soccer’s world governing body said that “health must always be the first priority and the main criteria in any decisionmaking process, especially in these challenging times.”
GRAND NATIONAL
Virtual race to sate gamblers
Even though Tiger Roll won the past two Grand Nationals, the race was to be a “roll of the dice” this year, as Britain’s highest-profile horse race over fences — one that used to be a TV highlight for households across the land and made heroes of horses such as Red Rum and Aldaniti — was to go virtual. Yesterday, ITV broadcast the “Virtual Grand National” as a random, number-generated event with prices fixed for each of the 40 entrants proportionate to that horse’s chance. The public could bet on it, although wagers were to be limited to ￡10 (US$12.27) and all profits donated to the British National Health Service’s Charities Together Appeal. Tiger Roll, owned by Ryanair Holdings boss Michael O’Leary, was the favorite at 5:1, Ladbrokes said. The horse finished second at the Cheltenham Festival on March 11, a week before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson directed people to remain at home, and asked pubs, restaurants and sporting venues to close.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
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