A roundup of today's other sports news in brief
Former manager rules out a return for Schumacher
MOTOR SPORT:Michael Schumacher has not ruled out standing in for injured Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa although a comeback is highly unlikely, the retired champion's spokeswoman said yesterday.
“In these circumstances he would want to consider it and not categorically say no,” said Sabine Kehm.
The seven-times world champion’s manager Willi Weber dismissed the possibility of the 40-year-old racing again, however.
“Michael will not sit in a car in Valencia. This is out of the question,” he said.
The next race is in Spain on August 23rd but Massa could be out for much, if not all, of the rest of the season.
“What would we expect from Schumacher if he stepped into a Formula One car? To win. The expectations from both sides would be too high,” said Weber.
He added that the German could possibly test cars in the future but that would as far as he would go.
Armstrong irked by Contador
CYCLING:Lance Armstrong told Alberto Contador he had a lot to learn yesterday, after the Tour de France winner spoke of the strained relationship that existed between the two team-mates during the race.
At his victory celebrations on his return to Madrid on Monday, Contador said the days in the hotel with the American were tougher than those on the road, that the split affected the Astana team and that they had not given him their full support.
“Seeing these comments from AC. If I were him I’d drop this drivel and start thanking his team. Without them, he doesn’t win,” Armstrong said.
“Hey pistolero (a nickname for Contador), there is no ‘i’ in ‘team’. What did I say in March? Lots to learn. Restated.”
Seven-time Tour winner Armstrong, who publicly criticised Contador during the race, saying he had not followed team orders, came in third behind Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and Contador on Sunday. It was the latter’s second Tour victory.
In-form Gillick third in Monaco
ATHLETICS:Such is the consistency of David Gillick these days that next month's World Championships in Berlin can't come around soon enough, writes Ian O'Riordan. In yet another world-class 400 metres field at the IAAF Herculis meeting in Monaco last night, Gillick finished an impressive third in 45.34 seconds, just a few strides down on America's Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt.
Merritt, who is also the fastest in the world this year, took the win in 44.73, but Gillick chased hard to take third behind American David Neville, who ran 45.26. Once again the Dubliner left several big names in his wake, including Leslie Djhone of France (45.57), Jamaal Torrance also of America (45.97) and Britain’s Martyn Rooney, who was a long way back in 46.22.
With two sub-45 second runs already this summer, Gillick remains on course to strongly challenge for a place in the final in Berlin.
He will have one more race over 200 metres at this weekend’s National Championships in Santry.
Thomas Chamney also ran very well in Monaco last night, finishing seventh in the 800 metres in 1:45.50. Unfortunately that left him just short of the A-standard for Berlin, 1:45.40, although having run 1:45.41 already this summer, Chamney looks set to go on the B-Standard, provided he wins the national title this weekend.
Victory there went to Abubaker Kaki of Sudan in 1:43.50, who just held off the former Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia, who ran 1:43.58.
Former disgraced sprinter Dwain Chambers was named in Britain’s squad yesterday for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin. The 31-year-old, who in 2006 completed a two-year ban for using the steroid THG, was barred from the Olympics last year because of British Olympic Association (BOA) rules, but is part of the 60-strong British team. Defending 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu is also included despite concerns over a hamstring injury that caused the Olympic gold-medal winner to miss last week’s London Grand Prix.
Chambers has been given one of the two other 100m spots along with Tyrone Edgar.
Mickelson back in action next week
GOLF:World number two Phil Mickelson will make his return to the USPGA Tour at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational next week, the Tour said yesterday.
Mickelson has not played since he tied for second place at the US Open in June having taken the last six weeks off while his wife Amy and mother Mary were treated for breast cancer.
Amy Mickelson underwent surgery in Houston on July 1st while Mickelsons mother was operated on 10 days later at the same hospital.
The left-hander missed out on winning the US Open by two shots to Lucas Glover, tying second along with compatriots David Duval and Ricky Barnes.
Due to his domestic concerns, Mickelson did not feature in this month’s British Open.
