SKIING
Shiffrin scores second win
Mikaela Shiffrin picked up her second victory of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season with a dominant performance in the women’s slalom in Killington, Vermont, on Sunday. The 28-year-old American, five-time winner of the overall World Cup rankings, beat off her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener to claim her record-extending 90th win. Shiffrin led after the first run. She was quickest again on the second, holding off Vlhova by 0.33 seconds. “This track is incredible. The crowd helps me here, they’re so noisy, I can even hear them shouting at every split time,” Shiffrin, who has now won six of the seven World Cup slaloms at Killington since 2016, told NBC. “Every time I pass one, I hear them get louder, and I’m like: ‘Oh man, I don’t know if I’m ahead or behind, but either way, I’ve got to push. It’s amazing to ski with that kind of energy.”
Photo: AP
SKIING
Contestant’s privates freeze
The sub-zero temperatures in Ruka in northern Finland on Sunday took their toll on Swedish cross-country skier Calle Halfvarsson during a 20km mass start event as he lost all feeling in his private parts. As the race began the mercury plummeted to minus-15°C. The 34-year-old eventually crossed the line in 18th place before rushing to the tents where the athletes were warming themselves back up. “I had frozen my penis for real — I had to lie in there for 10 minutes to warm it up,” Halfvarsson told Swedish newspaper Expressen. The temperatures in Ruka have proven hazardous for male athletes before, with their thin suits and under-layers providing minimal protection against the cold. “It’s lucky my second child is on the way, because it’s going to be difficult in the future if I continue like this,” Halfvarsson said, laughing.
FORMULA ONE
Verstappen ups record
Max Verstappen on Sunday extended his record for wins in a Formula One season, capturing his 19th victory at this year’s finale in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Verstappen wound up earning a record 575 points this season. Perez finished second in the standings, 290 points behind, as Verstappen also set the record for the largest gap between first and second place. “An incredible season. It was a bit emotional on the in lap,” Verstappen said. “The last time I was sitting in the car that has of course given me a lot. Of course, very proud to win here, also at the last race.”
SOCCER
Terry Venables dies at 80
Former England and Tottenham Hotspur manager Terry Venables, whose death at the age of 80 was announced on Sunday, was yesterday remembered fondly in Australia, where he served as head coach of the Socceroos for two years. Despite the most notable aspect of Venables’s reign being the failure to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in a playoff against Iran, warm tributes were paid to the man who became known to one and all as “El Tel” after his stint at Barcelona. With Crystal Palace, the Queens Park Rangers, Spurs and the Catalan giants on his resume, it was a huge surprise when Venables was lured down under after England’s semi-final exit from UEFA Euro 1996. “We had to pinch ourselves to think we had Terry Venables as coach,” former Australia midfielder Robbie Slater told Fox Sports News. “He was a wonderful man, larger than life, almost like a rock star.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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