■ ATHLETICS
Elanso wins Beirut marathon
Tamrat Elanso of Ethiopia won the Beirut International Marathon in Lebanon on Sunday, finishing the 42.2km race in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 46 seconds. Elanso, who earned US$3,000 for the win, was followed by David Kiplagat Kuino of Kenya in 2:21:51. Abraham Yilma Belete of Ethiopia was third in 2:21:54. About 20,000 runners took part in this year's race, which took a different route for the second consecutive year because of a year-long sit-in by the Hezbollah-led opposition in downtown Beirut.
■ Rodeo
Dead rider named champion
Australian rodeo rider Greg Meech was named all-round national champion on the same night he was trampled to death by a bull, news reports said yesterday. "On the completion of that bull ride we had the presentation night for the 2007 awards and Greg actually won the all-round champion in the cowboy title," National Rodeo Association spokesman Jason Hall told national broadcaster ABC. "He ... would have been crowned, or still is, the all-round champion for 2007." Meech, 33, died on Saturday in Ipswich Hospital from internal bleeding after he was thrown and trampled by a bull at a rodeo in Ipswich, near Brisbane.
■ Athletics
Psitet wins in Philadelphia
Kenya's Timothy Psitet won the Philadelphia Marathon in 2 hours, 25.01 minutes after dropping training partner and countryman Solomon Too at the 40km mark on Sunday. Too was second in 2:26.03. Kristin Price of the US won the women's title in 2:42.05. Psitet and Too broke together from the lead pack after 16km and tried to work together against the elements. At the 40th kilometer, Too began to weaken and gestured for Psitet to take over. "I told him to go ahead," Too said. "I started to have a headache and felt like I could fall down." Both winners said they were affected by the gusty winds and temperatures of around 5?C. "The winds were the worst part," Price said.
■ Motorsport
Johnson breaks record
Jimmie Johnson became the first driver to win consecutive NASCAR championships in nine years by wrapping up the title by finishing a trouble-free seventh in the season-ending Ford 400 in Florida on Sunday. He came into Homestead-Miami Speedway with a cushy 86-point lead over Jeff Gordon, his friend, mentor and teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Although Johnson needed only to finish 18th or better, he refused to play it safe and crew chief Chad Knaus gave him a pole-winning car. Johnson led the first lap to earn a quick five-point bonus, then settled in for the 644km ride into the record books. At a time when no single team is supposed to dominate, the No. 48 crew did just that.
■ Golf
Tommy Armour takes title
Tommy Armour won the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational, closing with a 2-under 70 for a two-stroke victory over Ronnie Black and Rocco Mediate in California on Sunday. The 48-year-old Armour, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, had a 16-under 272 total in the event that features both male and female players.
Black shot a 68, and Mediate had a 67. ``I just played good all week and never had a three-putt,'' said Armour, whose last tournament win was the 2003 Texas Open. ``I told myself this morning that I had to shoot 70 to win. I shot 70.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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