A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Rudisha breaks 800m record for second time
ATHLETICS:Kenya's David Rudisha lowered the 800 metres world record to one minute 41.01 seconds at a meeting in Rieti in Italy yesterday, just a week after first breaking the record.
The 21-year-old, who broke the record that had stood for 13 years in Berlin last Sunday when he ran 1:41.09, powered down the home straight at the IAAF World Challenge meeting to easily better that mark.
Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer set 1.41.11 in 1997 in Cologne, Germany, but Rudisha has suddenly ripped up the record books twice and said last Monday he can go even quicker in his pursuit of world and Olympic gold.
Last year at Rieti he had told the crowd he would “return to do something great”.
Rudisha, who made a surprise semi-final exit at the Berlin World Championships last year, is the son of Daniel Rudisha, a member of the 4x400m Olympics silver-winning relay in Mexico City in 1968.
Springboks end losing sequence
RUGBY:South Africa captain John Smit accepted there was plenty for his side still to work on after Saturday's 44-31 Tri-Nations victory over Australia in Pretoria.
The Springboks ended a run of four defeats to clinch a first win in the competition and climb to second in the standings behind already-crowned champions New Zealand.
South Africa recovered from a nightmare start as the Wallabies amassed 14 points in only four minutes after quickfire tries from Will Genia and James O’Connor.
The sides shared some 38 points before the break, and the 50th minute saw Francois Steyn finish a messy move to put the hosts into the lead at 34-31.
Further points by Steyn and a try from JP Peterson put the match beyond Australia.
Ennis dominates in Waterford
EQUESTRIAN: Ireland's Sarah Ennis enjoyed a great weekend at the Camphire international horse trials in Co Waterford and dominated in the two-star where she finished first and second.
Her winning mount was her own Olympic Lux seven-year-old BLM Diamond Delux, which added just 1.2 cross-country time penalties to his dressage score to complete on 47.7. The Meath-based rider led after the flat work phase on a score of 45 with Miriam Cunning’s home-bred Sugar Brown Babe, but picked up four show-jumping penalties to drop below his stable-companion.
Ennis’s younger sister, Nicola, filled third place in the class with Nuala McDonald and Sandra Horan’s The Underdog (54.3).
In show jumping, Paul O’Shea was yesterday crowned leading rider of this year’s ShowjumpingIreland premier Grand Prix series.
Bertrand claims Etchells title
SAILING:After a testing, nine- race series, Australia's John Bertrand (Royal Brighton Yacht Club, Melbourne) was confirmed winner of the Etchells World Championship at Howth on Saturday.
A win in the penultimate race allowed him sufficient points not to sail the final, as second-overall Ante Razmillovic placed 19th.
Saturday’s final day was extended after Friday’s race eight was abandoned due to a calm and re-sailed in much fresher winds.
From the home perspective, the highlight was Dan O’Grady from the host club placing second, boosting the former Olympian to 15th overall and edging David Burrows into 16th place as best of the Irish boats in the 43-strong turn-out.
The championship win comes after seven attempts that began in 1992 when Bertrand returned to sailing after a 10-year break following his historic America’s Cup victory.
Cavendish left in the shade
CYCLING: Belarussian rider Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) yesterday upstaged the often-unbeatable Mark Cavendish (HTC Columbia) in the bunch sprint which decided the second stage of the Vuelta a España.
Stunning his rival, Hutarovich timed his sprint to perfection and passed Cavendish close to the line. He won the 173.7km stage to Marbella by half a bike length.
Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Philip Deignan (Cervélo Test Team) opted not to get mixed up in the sprint, instead rolling in with the main bunch. They were 29th and 149th respectively.
Cavendish seized the race leader’s red jersey when his HTC Columbia team won Saturday’s opening team time trial in Seville.
Roche is 45 seconds back heading into today’s first mountainous stage, a tricky, 157.3km race to Málaga.
Deignan is two minutes five seconds behind Cavendish, who could well lose the lead this afternoon.
Ireland finish on a high in Paris
HOCKEY:Ireland finished their Five Nations tournament in style with a 2-0 win over Scotland in Paris.
Ireland opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Eugene Magee found the bottom corner with a reverse stick shot.
Scotland lost their discipline and received two greens in the first half, and Ireland took advantage and sealed the win four minutes into the second half when Peter Caruth diverted Joe Brennan’s shot to the net.
