Sun, Mar 21, 2010 page19

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■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.
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