OLYMPICS
Delay pushes rower to retire
British rowing gold medalist Tom Ransley on Friday announced his retirement after deciding that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to next year was a step too far. The 34-year-old was part of the men’s eight who won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and also a bronze in the 2012 London Games. “I have used up everything I had and I know that to get myself in the necessary condition to compete for a seat in 2021 is a step too far,” he told the BBC. The years of early starts, of three training sessions a day and a “selfish and monastic existence” to test his body to the limits has taken its toll and the fire is burning out, Ransley added. “A friend suggested that if you stop loving something it is impossible to give it your all — and I believe that she is right.”
TOUR DE FRANCE
Not postponing is ‘madness’
Allowing the Tour de France to go ahead as scheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic would be “madness” and a “crime against humanity,” said David Douillet, an Olympic judo champion and a former French minister of youth affairs and sports. The risks involved in staging the Tour outweigh the financial implications of postponing or canceling it, Douillet said. “God knows I am a fan of the Tour de France — I never miss a stage every summer,” he told France TV. “If we have enough means to ensure that all the players in the Tour and the public can be tested and are all negative, then why not? But that’s not very likely, so it can’t happen. There is no vaccine, nothing — and people are dying.”
OLYMPICS
FIFA extends men’s top age
FIFA has extended the age limit for the men’s soccer tournament at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games due to the pandemic. The Olympic rule amended on Friday retains the “players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997” standard, meaning that players eligible for the intended under-23 tournament this year could still play in Japan at age 24 next year. Men’s soccer kicks off ahead of the opening ceremony in Tokyo on July 23 next year. FIFA also confirmed that no international games for men or women are to be played on the dates in early June reserved for national team call-ups. Soccer’s world governing body said that “health must always be the first priority and the main criteria in any decisionmaking process, especially in these challenging times.”
GRAND NATIONAL
Virtual race to sate gamblers
Even though Tiger Roll won the past two Grand Nationals, the race was to be a “roll of the dice” this year, as Britain’s highest-profile horse race over fences — one that used to be a TV highlight for households across the land and made heroes of horses such as Red Rum and Aldaniti — was to go virtual. Yesterday, ITV broadcast the “Virtual Grand National” as a random, number-generated event with prices fixed for each of the 40 entrants proportionate to that horse’s chance. The public could bet on it, although wagers were to be limited to £10 (US$12.27) and all profits donated to the British National Health Service’s Charities Together Appeal. Tiger Roll, owned by Ryanair Holdings boss Michael O’Leary, was the favorite at 5:1, Ladbrokes said. The horse finished second at the Cheltenham Festival on March 11, a week before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson directed people to remain at home, and asked pubs, restaurants and sporting venues to close.
Taiwan’s men’s A team last night defeated their counterpart B team 82-77 in their first showdown in the William Jones Cup at New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang Gymnasium. With four wins under their belt, Taiwan’s A squad — also known as the blue team, consisting of the national team’s main roster — lead the tournament, while Malaysia and the Philippines Strong Group-Pilipinas, who were not scheduled to play last night, are both undefeated with three wins each. Taiwanese-American teenager Robert Hinton, playing in his first William Jones Cup, led the scoring early in the first quarter, putting up nine points for the A
A chance encounter during a drunken night out was the unlikely catalyst for breaker Sunny Choi’s journey to the Paris Olympic Games. The 35-year-old American is to showcase her skills before a global audience in Paris when breaking makes its debut on the Olympic stage. Choi is the beneficiary of efforts to attract younger fans to the Olympics, a move that led to breaking’s inclusion for the first time. However, as Choi says, the Olympics was the last thing on her mind when she took up the sport. A freshman student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Choi stumbled into breaking
Teenage gymnast Shoko Miyata has been pulled from Japan’s team for the Paris Olympics after being caught smoking and drinking, officials said yesterday. The 19-year-old, a world bronze medalist and captain of Japan’s women’s gymnastics team for the Games, was sent home from their training camp in Monaco and admitted she had violated the squad’s code of conduct. “With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics,” Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) secretary-general Kenji Nishimura told reporters in Tokyo. Nishimura said the association had been told that Miyata was seen smoking in a
Former NFL receiver Jacoby Jones, whose 108-yard kickoff return in 2013 remains the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history, has died at the age of 40. The Houston Texans, Jones’ team for the first five seasons of his career, announced his death on Sunday. In a statement released by the NFL Players Association, his family said he died at his home in New Orleans. A cause of death was not given. Jones played from 2007 to 2015 for the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, and he made several huge plays for the Ravens during their most recent Super