SNOWBOARDING
Alex Pullin dead at 32
Australia’s double world champion snowboarder Alex Pullin drowned while spear fishing off a Gold Coast beach yesterday. Pullin, Australia’s flagbearer at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was found by a snorkeler on an artificial reef just before 11am in waters off Palm Beach, Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. Lifeguards and paramedics attempted to resuscitate the 32-year-old on the beach after pulling him from the water, but he did not survive. “He didn’t have an oxygen mask, we understand he was free diving and spearfishing out on the reef,” Gold Coast Police District Duty Officer Chris Tritton told Australian broadcaster Channel Nine. “It appears he was diving alone. There were other divers out there, but he was not with a friend.” Brisbane-based newspaper the Courier-Mail reported that Pullin was thought to have “suffered a shallow water blackout.” Pullin, nicknamed “Chumpy,” won world championship titles in snowboard cross in 2011 and 2013. “It is an incredibly sad day,” Olympic Winter Institute of Australia chief executive officer Geoff Lipshut said. Pullin had last month retired from his sport, but had yet to announce it, Lipshut said. “Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin was one of our great winter sports pioneers... He attacked every day with intensity and purpose,” he added.
FOOTBALL
Eagles player in post furor
Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson on Tuesday apologized for a series of social media posts condemned as anti-Semitic, and slammed by his team as “offensive and appalling.” Jackson triggered an outcry after posting comments he attributed to Adolf Hitler and separate posts praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on Instagram. White Jews “will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were,” one excerpt read. Jackson also shared posts about Farrakhan, who has been branded anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn’t realize what this passage was saying... This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused,” Jackson wrote on Instagram. The Eagles condemned Jackson’s posts in a strongly worded statement, hinting that the team might take disciplinary action against the 33-year-old.
SOCCER
Brazilians laugh at loss
Six years after Brazil suffered their most humiliating experience on a soccer pitch, the 7-1 FIFA World Cup thrashing on home soil at the hands of Germany has become a joke, an expression and even a meme. That infamous scoreline has taken on a meaning of its own to describe any kind of defeat or a heavy blow — physical or figurative. “They gave us a one-seven” or “that was a one-seven” has entered into common parlance in the land more accustomed to stunning victories and brilliant achievements. It was July 8, 2014, when the five-time champions suffered the worst defeat in their history and the biggest-ever loss by a team that has won the World Cup. The scoreline is not the only thing from that game to have become a cultural reference in Brazil. Now, when describing something that happens repeatedly, Brazilians say “and a German goal” or “was that another German goal?”
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
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