News in brief from the world of sport
Gillick wins in Dusseldorf
ATHLETICS:David Gillick last night sent out a serious warning sign he intends defending his European Indoor 400-metres title when he clocked the fastest time in the world this year, winning the Dusseldorf International meeting in a superb 46.18 seconds.
Gillick eased home ahead of Italy’s Claudio Licciardello, who ran 46.57, with the American Jamaal Torrance even further back in third, running 47.11. It was Gillick’s first race of the indoor season and indicates he’s in form to challenge for gold for the third successive time, when the championships take place in Turin early next month. McHale violates anti-doping rule Raikkonen sets best times
Play abandoned because of 'dangerous' outfield
CRICKET:The cricket authorities will attempt to salvage a Test match for the island after the second Test at the brand new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was embarrassingly abandoned after 10 balls yesterday. A third Test will now begin at Antigua's old Recreation Ground tomorrow, with the series extended to five matches.
This was the second time in 11 years that the West Indies board has faced chaos and humiliation on an England tour. In Jamaica in 1998 the Test match was abandoned after 10.1 overs because the pitch was dangerous for batsmen. Here it did not take so long to establish that bowlers were at risk if they operated at full tilt.
“Only 10 balls had been delivered when the two umpires and match referee, Alan Hurst, led the players from the field in front of a bewildered crowd, mostly English tourists. “The bowlers were having trouble with their footings; they were digging into the sand and the turf was giving way,” Hurst explained. “We considered it very dangerous and play was abandoned on the grounds of health and safety.”
When asked why no action had been taken earlier in the week, he said that “there was no evidence to go on but we knew there were problems after two overs”.
McHale violates anti-doping rule
MARTIAL ARTS: An athlete affiliated to the Irish Martial Art Commission has violated an anti-doping rule.
The Irish Sport and Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel determined that Julie McHale committed the violation by refusing, without justification, to submit to sample collection after notification.
Subject to her right to appeal within 14 days, McHale has been sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of three months. The original hearing in this matter was adjourned on November 19th, 2008 and resumed on January 26th, 2009. The panel has decided the appropriate commencement date for the period of ineligibility is November 19th, 2008. The hearing was held under Article 8 (Disciplinary Process) of the Irish Anti-Doping Rules and this announcement is made pursuant to Article 15 (Public Disclosure) of the Rule.
Play abandoned because of 'dangerous' outfield
MOTOR SPORT:Kimi Raikkonen blew away the cobwebs after Bahrain had been blitzed by a sandstorm for the previous two days by setting the best time of the week at the Sakhir circuit.
Raikkonen was left kicking his heels all day yesterday as the freak weather conditions grounded the medical helicopter, allowing the Ferrari star to conduct nothing more than an installation lap. But with the sun finally on view, Raikkonen clocked up the laps in the team’s new challenger, posting a time of one minute 33.325 seconds.
The suggestion the forthcoming season could be a hotly-contested affair was underlined by the fact Toyota and BMW Sauber were in close attendance. Jarno Trulli was just 0.104 seconds adrift for Toyota after running for 127 laps, while BMW Sauber test driver Christian Klien managed two laps less, with his best a time of 1:33.666.
Sebastien Loeb holds the lead at the end of the opening day of the Rally of Norway, having moved ahead of Mikko Hirvonen on yesterday’s final stage. The reigning world champion had trailed his Finnish rival for most of running yesterday.
