A Japanese craftsman whose iron balls were used by all the shot-put medalists at the three previous Olympics says he is boycotting the Beijing Games amid human rights concerns.
“Let me make it clear — China is not qualified to host the Olympics,” 75-year-old Masahisa Tsujitani said yesterday, adding that neglecting human rights and hosting a peaceful sports event was a contradiction.
“I think a great deal of my shots, which have my true heart in them. I’m sorry for athletes but this is about my pride as a craftsman,” he said by telephone from his workshop near Tokyo.
Tsujitani said he had already decided in November not to send his shots to Beijing after seeing the booing of Japanese soccer players and anti-Japanese rallies in China in the past few years.
After the Chinese crackdown on recent unrest in Tibet, “I have renewed my conviction that I made the right decision,” he said.
Tsujitani has been making shots for four decades and is believed to be the world’s only person who produces them manually with a conventional lathe. Other shots are made using computer-controlled machines.
All gold, silver and bronze medallists for the men’s shot-put competition used his balls at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens games. Local media said a lack of his balls could shorten records at the upcoming contest.
Tsujitani said he had received more than 100 messages about his decision, with only one asking him to change his mind for the sake of shot-putters.
“Others are all backing my decision,” he said.
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,
COOLED DOWN: Du Plessis apologized after the fight for comments about his Nigerian-born opponent, after Adesanya said he planned to take the belt back to Africa South African Dricus du Plessis yesterday took a flurry of body hits across four rounds before defeating Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305. After scoring some early takedowns, Du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds, which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed. However, a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down, giving Du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold that forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out