ATHLETICS
Teen sets 200m record
Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout yesterday clocked the fastest time ever by a 16-year-old to smash the national 200m record and do something even Usain Bolt never achieved. The teenager ran 20.04 seconds at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships at his home track in Brisbane, breaking Peter Norman’s national record of 20.06 seconds from the 1968 Olympics. Gout has been compared in local media to Bolt and his time is the fastest ever by a 16-year-old over 200m, World Athletics said. Gout also now holds the second-fastest time in history for athletes under the age of 18, overtaking Bolt’s 20.13 seconds. “These are adult times and me, just a kid, I’m running them. It’s going to be a great future for sure,” Gout said. “I didn’t expect it to be that fast, but I guess I ran Australia’s fastest-ever time in the 200. I have been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought maybe next year or the year after that.” It came a day after Gout clocked a wind-assisted 10.04 seconds in the 100m. “You know what they say: Pressure makes diamonds, and I guess I’m better than a diamond right now,” he said yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
RUGBY UNION
Wales player loses finger
Wales international Shane Lewis-Hughes has undergone a finger amputation after dealing with an injury in his right hand for years and aims to return to action within weeks, his club said on Friday. Lewis-Hughes, who has earned three caps for Wales, had the ring finger amputated just above the base knuckles, the Dragons said in a statement. “Surgery was a success. Spoke to the surgeon, he said it all went well. He’s expecting a full recovery ... assured me a couple of weeks,” the 27-year-old said in a video posted by Dragons on X. “Nine fingers now,” he added with a laugh, holding up his bandaged right hand.
MOTORSPORTS
Leclerc penalized 10 places
A grid penalty for Charles Leclerc left him and Ferrari needing an “amazing recovery” to beat McLaren to the Formula 1 constructors’ title. Ferrari had to change the battery pack on Leclerc’s car on Friday in the first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That means a 10-place penalty on the grid for today’s race. Despite being exhausted after a bout of food poisoning, Leclerc was fastest in the first session by .221 seconds from McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton third fastest for Mercedes. McLaren go into the race with a 21-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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