■ATHLETICS
Wayne Collett dies aged 60
Wayne Collett of the US, who won the 400m silver medal at the 1972 Olympics and was later banned from the Olympics for life, died on Wednesday US media reported. Collett, 60, died at the St Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles from cancer, said Mark Dellims, the sports information director for UCLA, where Collett had been a track and field star. At the 1972 Munich Games, Collett was beaten to the 400m gold medal by compatriot Vince Matthews, but it was their subsequent antics on the podium that arguably dominated the headlines. As the national anthem played both athletes fidgeted and talked, sparking fears of another “Black Power” protest four years after Tommie Smith and John Carlos caused controversy in Mexico. Collett later explained he had felt uneasy honoring the anthem because of the struggle faced by African Americans at the time. “I couldn’t stand there and sing the words because I don’t believe they’re true,” he said. “I wish they were. I believe we have the potential to have a beautiful country, but I don’t think we do.” Both Collett and Matthews were immediately banned from future Olympic competition by the International Olympic Committee.
■HORSE RACING
Brennan rides Cup winner
Paddy Brennan rode Imperial Commander to glory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday after pre-race favorite Kauto Star fell four fences out. Imperial Commander, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, was too strong for 2008 Gold Cup winner Denman, pulling clear on the run to the last before powering to win by seven lengths. “It’s by far the best day of my life,” a delighted Brennan said. “I’m speechless. It was a dream the whole way.”
■SPEEDSKATING
South Koreans dominate
South Korea dominated the first day of the short track speedskating world championships. Kwak Yoon-gy clocked 2 minutes, 24.316 seconds to win the men’s 1,500m title on Friday, leaving the silver and bronze medals to teammates Sung Si-bak and Lee Ho-suk. Park Seung-hi of South Korea took the women’s 1,500m title in a time of 2 minutes, 21.570, beating teammates Lee Eun-byul and Cho Ha-ri.
■SLED DOG RACING
Jamaican finishes 47th
The first musher from Jamaica to enter the 1,770km Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has reached the finish line at Nome, three days after Lance Mackey won for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time. Newton Marshall finished in 47th place. The 27-year-old rookie covered the arduous course in 12 days, 4 hours and 27 minutes, reaching Nome at 7:27pm on Friday. As of late Friday night, 48 mushers had completed the race and 15 others have scratched. Eight remain on the trail. The last musher to reach Nome receives the Red Lantern Award. Marshall, a resident of St Anne Parish, said before the start that he was determined to make it to Nome and excited to see the “lovely” landscape along the way.
■SKYDIVING
Florida jump goes wrong
A man died while skydiving in Florida after he had problems with his parachute, authorities said. Zephyrhills police said 68-year-old Paul Luter III appears to have died instantly upon impact on Friday afternoon. Skydive City general manager David Hayes said it appears Luter’s main shoot didn’t open properly. By the time Luter cut away from his main parachute at about 90m, there was not enough altitude for the reserve parachute to deploy.
In April last year, Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying finally opened up about her future in the sport in which she had competed professionally since 2009. “My plan is to retire after the end of next year’s season. Even if I’m still able to compete, I would prefer not to,” she said at a promotional event. If true, the Paris Olympics would be her last stab at an Olympic gold medal, a prize some might think a player who has topped the rankings in women’s singles for a record total of 214 weeks — between December 2016 and September 2022 — should
Vivian Kong on Saturday won Hong Kong’s third ever Olympic gold medal, disappointing the home crowd as she beat France’s Auriane Mallo-Breton 13-12 in sudden death in the women’s epee final. Kong wiped away tears after she clinched the title, having held her nerve when she trailed 7-1 in the second period and with a passionate home crowd, including French President Emmanuel Macron, urging Mallo-Breton on. Her gold emulates that of fellow fencer Cheung Ka-long in the men’s foil in Tokyo three years ago and sailor Lee Lai-shan who won the women’s sailboard title at Atlanta in 1996. “I just thought it was
POLYNESIAN FOCUS: The separate opening event welcomed visitors with Tahitian dancing, while athletes participated in rituals to mark the occasion Tahitian dancers in palm-leaf skirts mingled with Olympic surfers, locals and tourists as the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games commenced in French Polynesia on Friday, about 16,000km from the main ceremony in Paris. “The people of Tahiti, we are all enchanted to have these Olympics Games here and to welcome all our friends from all over the world,” French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson told reporters. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. All the world is looking at us for this mighty wave.” Just steps from the ocean and set against the lush green mountains of Tahiti, the event was heavily
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the