■BASEBALL
Ordonez earns US$18m
Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez has earned US$18 million with a fifth-inning groundball. The at-bat on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals was Ordonez’s 1,080th plate appearance since the start of the 2008 season, the number that he needed to automatically trigger his US$18 million contract option for next year. The option will make the contract that began in 2005 worth US$93 million over six years. The appearance was also Ordonez’s 455th of this year. If Ordonez comes to the plate 1,080 times this year and next year, he will activate another US$15 million option for the 2011 season.
■OLYMPICS
Canada language plan saved
The Canadian government will foot more of the bill for bilingual services at next year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics. Federal Heritage Minister James Moore announced US$7.7 million in new funding for the Olympics just hours after reports raised concerns that the organizing committee was out of cash to meet the commitment. Federal official languages commissioner Graham Fraser said in his report that without additional funds, it would be difficult to provide all public information about the games in both official languages of French and English. “This money will go to translation services, to interpretation services, to permanent signage in and around all the Olympic sites in Vancouver as well as to medal ceremonies to ensure that they’re officially bilingual. And this is an important investment into the 2010 Games,” Moore said in Ottawa.
■ATHLETICS
Highway named after Bolt
The Jamaican roadway along which the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt crashed his car in April will be renamed in his honor. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding told parliament on Tuesday that Highway 2000 would be called the Usain Bolt Highway. The road connects Kingston in the east with Montego Bay in the far west of the country. Golding also announced that the country’s fourth-highest honor, the Order of Jamaica, would be conferred on the 23-year-old sprinter. Bolt will also be appointed an ambassador-at-large and will be accorded full diplomatic status.
■FOOTBALL
Eagles add Vick to roster
The Philadelphia Eagles elevated Michael Vick to the team’s 53-man roster on Tuesday, a move that allows the quarterback to practice with them. The Eagles released receiver Hank Baskett to make room for Vick, who is eligible to play on Sept. 27 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Vick was to begin practicing with the NFL team yesterday, though he cannot play in Sunday’s home opener against the New Orleans Saints. The Eagles were heavily criticized by animal rights activists for signing Vick less than a month after he finished serving 18 months in federal prison. A month later, Vick’s jersey is the fourth-highest seller in the NFL behind Brett Favre, Jay Cutler and Troy Polamalu. The league rankings are based on sales from April 1 to Aug. 28.
■BASKETBALL
Warriors’ Jackson fined
Golden State’s Stephen Jackson was fined US$25,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for saying he wanted to be traded. Jackson, who averaged a team-best 20.7 points per game last season, told Dime Magazine last month that he wanted out and had told the Warriors front office as much. Players are not permitted to make trade requests publicly.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
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