AUSTRALIA: Kelly Slater, an 11-time world champion, has been given a wildcard to continue competing in the World Surf League, saving his Olympic ambition of competing in Paris. At the Margaret River Pro in Australia last weekend, the 51-year-old American, who is largely considered as the best professional surfer of all time, was eliminated in the round of 32. Often compared to basketball’s Michael Jordan in how he has transcended his sport, it meant Slater missed the mid-season cut, a concept introduced last year […]
Olympic
Australian Olympian Owen Wright retires from pro surfing
SYDNEY: Surfer Owen Wright, who fought his way back from a traumatic brain injury to win an Olympic bronze medal for Australia, announced his retirement from professional competition on Wednesday, saying he no longer wanted to risk his health. “Over the years I’ve had a number of head injuries and concussions and it’s got to the […]
IOC urges Britain to respect ‘autonomy of sport’
LONDON: Olympic chiefs have urged the British government to respect the “autonomy of sport” after an attempt to lobby sponsors against a proposed pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at next year’s Paris Games. Britain’s Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer last week wrote a letter to 13 of the biggest Olympic sponsors, urging them […]
Aussie McKeown smashes world record, Titmus goes close at trials
ADELAIDE: Australia’s Kaylee McKeown threw down the Olympic gauntlet to American rival Regan Smith by smashing her 100m backstroke world record Sunday, while Ariarne Titmus fired a warning shot to superstar Katie Ledecky with the second fastest 400m freestyle ever. McKeown, 19, touched in 57.45sec at the Australian Olympic trials in Adelaide, sweeping past Smith’s […]
Former Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop gets four-year doping ban
LONDON: Kenya’s former Olympic 1500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop has been handed a four-year ban for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Saturday. The 29-year-old, who also won three world championship golds, tested positive for the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) in November 2017. Kiprop had argued his urine sample, which was taken […]
IOC weighs boxing Olympic KO
Top IOC officials will from Friday weigh the future of boxing as an Olympic event at a meeting in Tokyo expected to be dominated by concerns over the sport’s governance. The International Olympic Committee holds a two-day gathering in the 2020 Summer Games host city after its president said he was “extremely worried about the […]
Iran warns Samsung over Olympic smartphone snub
Iran warned South Korea’s electronics giant Samsung of “repercussions” on Thursday after its delegation to the Winter Olympics was excluded from a handout of free top-of-the-range smartphones to participants. South Korea’s ambassador, Kim Seung-Ho, was summoned to the foreign ministry in Tehran, official news agency IRNA reported. It said the ministry lodged “a strong protest” […]
S. Korea opens high-speed line to Winter Olympic venues
Emblazoned with a tiger and a bear — the mascots of the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics — a blue and white high-speed train rolled out of Seoul station Friday as a new line to the venues opened to the public. The railway cuts travel times significantly, reaching Jinbu — the station for snow sports […]