The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Ramos, Junqueira into 2nd round at Croatia Open
- London Olympics helping 12M youngsters globally
- Carl Lewis still amazed by Bolt's Olympic show
| Ramos, Junqueira into 2nd round at Croatia Open Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:31 PM PDT Published: Tuesday July 26, 2011 MYT 9:32:00 AMUMAG, Croatia (AP): Albert Ramos of Spain beat eighth-seeded Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Croatia Open on Monday. Dodig appeared unable to move freely on court during the third set after the Croat complained of an ankle injury. Diego Junqueira of Argentina defeated another Croat, Antonio Veic going down 6-4, 7-5. |
| London Olympics helping 12M youngsters globally Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:25 PM PDT LONDON (AP): Far from London, the 2012 Olympics are helping to transform and save lives. From Bangladesh to Zambia, London's international legacy program has invested 38 million pounds ($62 million) in 17 countries and hit its target a year early to involve 12 million youngsters in sport globally. Noor, an 18-year-old girl from Bangladesh, is one of them, receiving lessons to become a swimming teacher in a country where four children on average die every hour from drowning. Brought to London to be part of celebrations to mark a year until the Olympics, Noor, whose full name was not given, recounted how her training has already saved at least one life. "A girl about 5 years old was drowning, and her parents took her out of the water and tried to save her in a traditional way by putting some ashes in her mouth," Noor said through a translator. "I gave it five minutes and said if nothing happens I will do it my way. I took her and tried to implement some of the (resuscitation) techniques I had learnt from the program, pushing the chest, and after some time she began to breathe." As a result of her training, Noor feels more empowered in her tiny village of Makura in Rangpur. "My father is a rickshaw puller and the only earning member of my family," she said, while overlooking London's 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. "Through this I tried to prove that a girl can also be an active member of her family. These activities help me develop my leadership. "This helps me to speak up for other girls in my village, to make sure their voices are heard." London's Olympic team has already raised another 6 million pounds ($10 million) from the public and private sector to invest in another three countries before the Olympics start next July. "This shows we can take the world's greatest sporting event and use it for the benefit of other countries other than ourselves," Britain's Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said. "This direct intervention through sport is saving people's lives." The program, called International Inspiration, will continue in some of the 20 countries for two years after the Olympics, with organizers expecting the 2016 Rio Games team to adopt a similar project. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Carl Lewis still amazed by Bolt's Olympic show Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:24 PM PDT DENVER (AP): No use asking Carl Lewis to make bold predictions about what Usain Bolt might do at the next Olympics. The nine-time gold medalist is still having trouble processing what the Jamaican sprinter did at the last one. "A lot of people's breath has been taken away," Lewis told The Associated Press on Monday. "I'm still coming to grips with that." As to the question of who in America might challenge Bolt in London next year - Lewis takes the vaguely optimistic view. "My main focus is saying, 'Hey, we always have to think someone will come up,"' Lewis said. Even 15 years after leaving the sport, Lewis remains America's iconic figure in a track world that grew increasingly troubled after his departure. By setting the 100-meter record three times in the span of 15 months in 2008 and 2009 - lowering it from 9.74 seconds to 9.58 - Bolt has redefined the sport's landscape. "Really kind of bizarre," Lewis described the rapid lowering of the world record. "It's hard to follow what's going on. Kind of crazy the way the sport's become." Instead of focusing on that, Lewis is busy running for the state legislature in New Jersey, where his candidacy is being challenged in the courts because of the state's four-year residency requirement. He keeps his hand in track, mainly trying to influence the younger side of the sport. He's working for the Hershey's Track and Field Games, a 34-year-old program that draws millions of kids into track and field. The North American Final meet takes place Aug. 6 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "It's why I deal with youth - there are no issues, no drama," he said. "All the drama is whether you win or not, and 10 minutes later, whether you did or not, you go get your chocolate." If only things were that simple at the elite level. In the aftermath of the 2008 Olympics, in which the Americans won only 23 medals, Lewis was asked to be part of a task force that explored what went wrong. The Project 30 report - named as such because of a goal set by former USA Track and Field CEO Doug Logan to win 30 medals at the London Olympics - identified a number of structural flaws inside the team. With the Olympics starting a year from Wednesday, Lewis isn't completely convinced all the issues have been straightened out. "The reality is that we're talking about 30 medals and we still haven't figured out how to pass the baton" in relays, he said. "The last two championships, the men have not passed the baton. That's a huge problem. We had two gold medals that were guaranteed all the time and now we can't get a medal, period." Faulty passes cost the men medals in the 400-meter relay at both the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 worlds. The women dropped the baton in 2008 and didn't finish in 2009 when Muna Lee pulled up with a hamstring injury. USATF is making changes this year, requiring relay sprinters to participate in three training camps and at least two races in the lead-up to world championships. How the Americans fare in South Korea next month will play a big role in shaping the strategy for the Olympics next year. Absent from this year's team, however, is Tyson Gay, who has been battling hip injuries all year and has shut things down for 2011 while he rehabilitates from surgery in hopes of being at full health for the Olympic year. Along with Justin Gatlin, on the comeback after a four-year doping suspension, and Walter Dix, this year's American champion in the 100 and 200 meters, Gay is still viewed as one of the top U.S. threats to Bolt. "But the last two or three years, he's been injured every year," Lewis said. "Hamstring injuries, you can recover from that. But now it's a hip. When you start getting structural injuries, those are things you really have to worry about." But Lewis doesn't worry about it all that much. As one of America's most decorated Olympic stars, he could play the role of the ubiquitous elder-statesman at track meets around the world. While hardly invisible on the track scene, he has other interests - most notably right now, politics. In a race for a seat in the New Jersey Legislature, Lewis was unopposed in the Democratic primary, where his name was placed on the ballot after it was disqualified by the lieutenant governor, a Republican, but later reinstated by a judge. The matter is now up to the federal courts. "I'm staying with the same ideas when I ran in sports," Lewis said. "I'm not tearing anyone down. I'm letting people know what I believe in, what I think. My focus is for them to vote for me, and not against my opponent." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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