Sun, Jun 20, 2021 page11

• SPORTS BRIEFS

  • Agencies
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  TRACK AND FIELD

  India mourns ‘Flying Sikh’

  India yesterday mourned the loss of track legend Milkha Singh, who overcame childhood tragedy to seek Olympic glory, after he died aged 91 following a long battle with COVID-19. Singh, a four-time Asian Games gold medalist, who was dubbed the “Flying Sikh,” passed away at a hospital in the north Indian city of Chandigarh late on Friday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes for Singh, writing that India had “lost a colossal sportsperson, who captured the nation’s imagination and had a special place in the hearts of countless Indians.” Singh won gold medals at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games, but shot to fame at the 1960 Olympics in Rome when he finished fourth in the 400m. His time of 45.73 seconds was a national record, which stood for almost 40 years.

  MOTOGP

  Dupasquier’s number retired

  MotoGP on Friday announced the retirement of Jason Dupasquier’s race number after the Swiss Moto3 rider died in a crash at Italy’s Mugello circuit last month. The number 50 was retired in a ceremony ahead of the weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, with a trophy presented to his team. The ceremony was attended by riders from across the paddock and all categories, including Spain’s eight-time world champion Marc Marquez and France’s current MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo. Dupasquier, 19, died after a crash in qualifying for the Italian Moto3 Grand Prix involving three bikes.

  OLYMPICS

  Avoid intimacy: organizers

  The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have vowed to put on a “safe and secure” Games during the COVID-19 pandemic, but safe sex — or anything approaching intimacy — would be forbidden for athletes. According to the public health measures outlined in the latest Olympic playbook, they must “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact.” That has left Japanese organizers red-faced after questions were raised about the fate of 160,000 condoms that are due to be handed out this summer. Organizers belatedly spun the anomaly into a safe sex message, saying that the condoms are meant to be taken home. Four Japanese manufacturers had been banking on the Games to market their specialty — ultra-thin condoms. According to Agence France-Presse, Games requirements mean they are only permitted to distribute thicker, latex-based versions. “When I learned about the requirement, I thought: ‘Oh my god ... can that be right?’” an industry source said. “We had really counted on being able to offer these ultra-thin ones.”

  SOCCER

  FIFA sanctions Mexico

  Mexico would play two home games in empty stadiums after they were sanctioned and fined by the FIFA disciplinary commission for homophobic chants, the Mexican football federation said on Friday. “We have received a sanction from FIFA for the shouts heard during the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games,” federation president Yon de Luisa told reporters. The qualifiers were held in March at the Akron and Jalisco stadiums in Guadalajara in western Mexico. The sanctions, which include a fine of about US$65,000, are linked in particular to Mexico’s games against the Dominican Republic and the US, De Luisa said.

  SWIMMING

  Lochte fails to qualify

  Ryan Lochte’s bid to make a fifth Olympic team ended in an emotional 200m medley defeat at the US trials on Friday, almost certainly bringing down the curtain on the 36-year-old’s Games career. “I still want to race,” Lochte said. “As far as another Olympic trials, I don’t know about that. I’ll be 40 — that would be pushing it.” Lochte has won 12 medals, six of them gold, in four prior Olympics, making him the second-most decorated male swimmer in Olympic history after longtime teammate and rival Michael Phelps. Lochte, whose 200m medley record of 1:54.00 set at the 2011 World Championships still stands, clocked 1:59.67 on Friday to finish seventh in a race won by 22-year-old Michael Andrew in 1:55.44.

  TRACK AND FIELD

  Crouser breaks world record

  Ryan Crouser on Friday toppled the men’s shot put world record with a 23.37m throw on the first night of the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. The 28-year-old reigning Olympic champion exceeded fellow American Randy Barnes’ previous record of 23.12m, which had stood for more than 30 years, electrifying the crowd in Eugene, Oregon. “The second it left my hand I knew it was good,” he told reporters. “It wasn’t a perfect throw.” Crouser had not exceeded his morning qualify throw of 22.92m on his first throws of the cloudless night, and let out a roar as he rocketed the ball nearly out of the sector on his fourth throw, thrusting his hands aloft in triumph, as his spot in the Tokyo Olympics was guaranteed. “It was a weight lifted,” he said. “I knew it was possible since 2017.”

  MOTORCROSS

  Stunt rider dies in practice

  US stunt rider Alex Harvill was on Thursday killed while training to break the record for the world’s longest motorcycle jump, officials in Washington state said. The 28-year-old was practicing to beat the 107m milestone when his bike slammed into the top edge of a dirt mound he was using as a landing ramp. Harvill was thrown from his machine, according to local media. The Grant County Sheriff’s office said that he died later in hospital and that an autopsy would determine the exact cause of the rider’s death. Harvill, a father of two, had been due to make his record attempt at an airshow in Moses Lake. A professional motocross rider, Harvill had already set a previous Guinness World Record in 2013 with a 90.5m jump from one dirt ramp to another.

  TRACK AND FIELD

  Manyonga banned 4 years

  South African Olympic long jump silver medalist Luvo Manyonga was handed a four-year ban after failing to make himself available for drug testing three times in a 12-month period under the sport’s “whereabouts” criteria, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday. The AIU wrote on Twitter that its disciplinary tribunal had banned Manyonga for “four years from December 23, 2020, for whereabouts failures, his second violation of the @WorldAthletics anti-doping rules.” Manyonga, world champion in 2017, finished second at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but would likely miss the rescheduled Tokyo Games later this year. The 30-year-old, who is the African record holder with a best of 8.65m, can appeal the ban at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. Athletes must let authorities know their intended whereabouts to allow anti-doping officials to find them. If they fail to show or give wrong information three times in a year they can be punished.
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