OLYMPICS
Games to go ahead: official
Tokyo’s postponed Olympics will go ahead next year regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, International Olympic Committee vice president John Coates said yesterday, vowing they would be the “Games that conquered COVID.” The Olympics have never been canceled outside of the world wars and Coates, speaking in an exclusive interview, was adamant that the Games will start on their revised date. “It will take place with or without COVID. The Games will start on July 23 next year,” Coates said. “The Games were going to be, their theme, the Reconstruction Games after the devastation of the tsunami,” he said, referring to an earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011. “Now very much these will be the Games that conquered COVID, the light at the end of the tunnel.”
CYCLING
Roglic claims yellow jersey
Slovenians on Sunday took the laurels at the Tour de France, as rookie Tadej Pogacar won a mountain slog and his compatriot Primoz Roglic grabbed the overall lead. Overnight leader Adam Yates of Britain made a valiant effort to keep hold of the yellow jersey, but fell away on the final climb as the gradient hit 12 percent. Roglic has been the form rider this season and after his second-place finish leads defending champion Egan Bernal by 21 seconds. “Everybody dreams of wearing the yellow jersey one day in his life, so first off I’m just happy how things are,” Roglic said. Pogacar said that he remembered little of the sprint that gave him a first Tour stage win as he pipped Roglic and Swiss rider Marc Hirschi, who had set the pace for much of the day. “I wanted to gain as much time as possible,” Pogacar said. “Ten seconds bonus for the stage win in the sprint is great, but I don’t know what happened in it.”
FORMULA ONE
Gasly in shock victory
Pierre Gasly on Sunday jumped for joy and then said that he was too happy for words after claiming his maiden victory a year after being demoted by Red Bull to their junior sister team, AlphaTauri. It was only the team’s second win since entering the sport in 1985. Gasly, 24, delivered a result he and the team could only have dreamed of until a series of incidents — including accidents, penalties and safety cars — threw up an unexpected opportunity. “To be honest, I can’t believe it,” he said. “I just can’t realize what’s happening right now. It was such a crazy race. On my first podium last year, I was already, wow, and now my first win, with AlphaTauri... and at Monza. I just can’t believe it.”
ICE HOCKEY
Khudobin shuts out Vegas
Anton Khudobin on Sunday made 25 saves for his first NHL playoffs shutout as an efficient Dallas Stars beat the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. John Klingberg scored for third-seeded Dallas at 2 minutes, 36 seconds of the first period in Edmonton, Canada. “Mostly happy with the win,” Khudobin said. “[The shutout is] a bonus, I would say. Even if we win 2-1 or 3-2, doesn’t matter. For me, the win is the most important.” “We came out of the gates strong,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “I know we only scored one goal, [but] we had lots of opportunities tonight and [Marc-Andre] Fleury was outstanding for them as Khudobin was for us.”
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
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