■OLYMPICS
Race too tight to call: Rogge
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said the race to win the right to host the 2016 Games was too close to call, and that he was delighted he didn’t have a vote. The Belgian professed himself to be very pleased after all four candidate cities — Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro — completed 90 minute presentations and answered questions in front of 93 of the 107 IOC members Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday. Rogge said that this was vastly different to the final presentations which will be made in Copenhagen on Oct. 2 when all four bidding cities learn their fate. “There there will be heads of state, dignitaries and celebrities which makes it a wholly different scenario,” he said.
■SOCCER
Ronaldo ends goal drought
Ronaldo scored his first goal for nearly two months on Wednesday to help his Corinthians side beat Internacional 2-0 in the first leg of the Brazil Cup final. The former FIFA World Player of the Year scored his 11th goal of the season eight minutes into the second half when he took a long pass from Elias, dribbled past Indio and shot low into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Lauro’s net. Jorge Henrique opened the scoring for Corinthians midway through the first half, finishing off a fine move on the wing by Marcelo Oliveira.
■SOCCER
Kahn hosts reality show
A Chinese television reality show hosted by former German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was scheduled to open yesterday, producers and sponsors said. Kahn’s 10-week show, I Never Give Up, gives aspiring young Chinese goalkeepers the chance to win a place at the German Soccer Federation’s (DFB) top training academy, Berger Feld Schule. “In this show Oliver Kahn is not just looking for China’s new football talent, but sharing his advice for success in sports and life,” German airline Lufthansa, a sponsor of the TV series, said in a statement. Heilongjiang Satellite TV, based in the city of Harbin, planned to air the first program last night. Kahn, 40, who retired from playing with Bayern Munich last year, reportedly said he would be gentle with the competitors and avoid the blunt criticisms and public humiliation that have featured in similar reality shows. The show aims to reflect the “importance of individuality and personality, but most of all how the contestants handle defeat,” the official China Daily newspaper quoted Kahn as saying. “We don’t want to do an empty and meaningless, mindless casting show,” he said. The show features 10 goalkeepers aged 17 to 24, including two women.
■TENNIS
Mayer replaces Nalbandian
Argentina on Wednesday named Leonardo Mayer as a replacement for David Nalbandian on its Davis Cup team for next month’s quarter-final against the Czech Republic. The team will be led by Juan Martin Del Potro, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open and is ranked No. 5 by the ATP. Mayer, ranked No. 70, is the only new face on the team, which also includes Jose Acasuso and Juan Monaco. Mayer, 22, lost to Tommy Haas of Germany in the second round of the French Open, and defeated James Blake of the US in the first round. Nalbandian, ranked No. 16, is recovering from hip surgery and will also miss Wimbledon and the US Open. The Czech Republic vs Argentina match is from July 10 to July 12 in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later