OLYMPICS
China names swim squad
China would send 11 swimmers implicated in a major doping scandal to next month’s Paris Olympics, after the country on Tuesday named its squad for the Games. Twenty-three Chinese swimmers tested positive for the prescription heart drug trimetazidine — which can enhance performance — ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Games, it emerged in April. They were not sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food. This month the New York Times reported that three among the 23 swimmers, including two going to Paris, had also tested positive for a different banned substance, clenbuterol, in separate cases in 2016 and 2017. US swimmer Lilly King on Friday last week called the most recent revelations “disappointing and frustrating.” “You know, when we put everything on the line ... everything that we do to compete with a level playing field, it’s extremely frustrating to not have faith that others are doing the same thing,” she said.
GOLF
PGA gives Woods exemption
Tiger Woods would be able to gain entry to all PGA Tour signature events after the circuit’s policy board on Tuesday voted to grant him a special exemption due to “exceptional lifetime achievement.” The move would give Woods access to the Tour’s eight signature tournaments, all of which award large prize money and extra points in the FedEx Cup standings despite possessing smaller fields than standard events.
ATHLETICS
Johnson starts new league
US athletics great Michael Johnson on Tuesday announced the launch of a new track league that would include the “best of the best” competing in four elite meetings every year from 2025. Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist turned commentator for the BBC, said Grand Slam Track would debut in April 2025 with two three-day meetings in the US and two international stops, with prize money of about US$3 million on offer at each meeting. One US venue would be Los Angeles, host city of the 2028 Olympics, Johnson said. “People love racing. People want to see the best of the best, and at the core of Grand Slam Track is the best of the best athletes, only the fastest, competing head to head against one another four times a year,” he said. The meets would feature track races only, no field events, divided into categories of short sprints, long sprints, high hurdles, low hurdles, middle distance and long distance, with men’s and women’s races in each category.
SOCCER
Asian league offers US$12m
The winners of the new Asian Champions League Elite would pocket a minimum of US$12 million, the Asian Football Confederation said yesterday in a major boost to club soccer in the region. The competition, which starts with a preliminary round in August, is at the heart of a major revamp of club soccer across the continent and involves 27 clubs from 12 nations including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia. The first prize is a threefold increase from the sum won by Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates last month in the final edition of the Asian Champions League under its previous format.
Rugby organizers in Taiwan hope that a tournament in Singapore next week would be the catalyst to boost the sport in the nation. However, with a team of mostly university students up against more experienced players from their two opponents, Taiwan face a stern challenge at the first edition of the Unions Cup. Taiwan coach Huang Chi-hsang at a training session at the University of Taipei yesterday said that the other two teams — Singapore and Thailand — can draw on a wider pool of players, including those with overseas experience. Taiwan captain Chien Tzu-fan is one of the older hands on the
Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Wednesday said that she wants to have children once she retires, and added that a trip throughout Taiwan was in her plans for when she lays down her racket. Tai, who turned 30 yesterday, has said she plans to retire at the end of this year. In an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA), she said that “there’s still a lot of places in Taiwan I haven’t visited,” adding that she also wants to rest and enjoy life without having to set an alarm. Tai first picked up a racket at age five and began training
Former NBA players Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook are to play together for the Taiwan Mustangs at The Asian Tournament, a newly formed league, starting next month. Howard, who is now part owner of the Mustangs after playing with the Taoyuan Leopards in the T1 League during the 2022-2023 season, said during a videoconference on Wednesday that he would return to the court in Taiwan with the Mustangs, and his former teammates Cook and Cousins would join him. The eight-time NBA All-Star had previously said on social media that he has become one of many shareholders in the new league,
The New Taipei Kings on Thursday captured the 2023-2024 P.League+ title after defeating the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots 103-97 in overtime. The win gave the Kings a 4-1 victory in the best-of-seven series and their first championship in the league that began in the 2020-2021 season. The Kings made the P.League+ Finals last year, but lost 4-2 to the Taipei Fubon Braves, who won the league’s first three championship series. Facing an elimination game at home, the Pilots went for broke, including Treveon Graham in the starting five along with the league’s regular-season Most Valuable Player Lu Chun-hsiang and Import Player of the Year