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.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
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