■ 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.
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
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
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
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
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