ATHLETICS
Games opposition eases
A majority of Japanese remain opposed to holding the Olympics this summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ratio lowered significantly from other recent polls, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey showed yesterday. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they want the Olympics to be canceled, while the same ratio of people think they should be held without spectators, the poll showed. The poll showed that a combined 61 percent want the Games to be postponed or canceled, about 20 percentage points lower than earlier opinion polls. The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year due to the pandemic and rescheduled to start on July 23.
SKIING
Opening races postponed
No fans. Now, no race. The opening event of the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine World Ski Championships scheduled for yesterday was postponed due to heavy snowfall. Organizers called the women’s combined off with no immediate new date for the race announced, although the FIS said information about rescheduling would come later. Although the forecast calls for better weather later in the week, it is a rough start for an event that was already deprived of fans due to a nationwide ban on spectators at sports events in Italy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Aware of the forecast, organizers had already swapped the two portions of the combined, putting the slalom first and running the super-G as the second leg. The winner of the event is determined by adding together the skiers’ times from the two runs. Mikaela Shiffrin, Petra Vlhova, Michelle Gisin and Federica Brignone are among the favorites in combined.
CYCLING
Wellens wins Etoile
Belgian Tim Wellens on Sunday won the Etoile de Besseges cycling race after Filippo Ganna took the closing time trial, ending a five-year French stranglehold on the event. Wellens, who rides for Team Lotto-Soudal, topped the closing overall standings by 53 seconds from Team Ineos’ Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland. Time-trial world champion Ganna, also with Ineos, took the 10.7km fifth-stage honors around the streets of Ales in the Gard region in a time of 15 minutes, 0.33 seconds. “It felt nice to start this closing time trial with a lead of more than 40 seconds,” Wellens said, adding: “But most of all, I was really motivated to give [Soudal founder and owner] Vic Swerts a nice gift for his 81st birthday.”
HOCKEY
Ralph Backstrom dies at 83
Ralph Backstrom, a six-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens, college coach and founder of a minor-league team, died on Sunday. He was 83. The Colorado Eagles announced the death of Backstrom, who founded the minor-league franchise in northern Colorado, in 2002. He was the Eagles’ president from 2003 to 2007. No cause of death was given. Backstrom was a longtime forward and helped the Canadiens capture the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons on three different occasions. He played in 1,336 career games in the NHL and the World Hockey Association, with 378 goals and 514 assists. A native of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Backstrom was also a coach at the University of Denver. He led the Pioneers to the NCAA Final Four in 1986.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
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