Category: 6. Sports

The Dutch multi-distance phenomenon Sifan Hassan has set a race record to claim victory in the first running of the Sydney Marathon as a World Majors Series event.

Hassan clocked a women’s winning time of two hours 18 minutes and 22 seconds as Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge fell short of the podium in the men’s category on Sunday.

Ethiopia’s Hailemaryam Kiros produced the fastest marathon run in Australia to win the men’s event in 2:06:06.

The 28-year-old prevailed by 10 seconds over his young countryman Addisu Gobena, with Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana third.

Kiros shaved 12 seconds off last year’s record set by Kenya’s Brimin Kipkorir, who is provisionally suspended after recording a positive test for a prohibited substance two months after his win in Australia.

Hassan blitzed the previous record of 2:21:40 – set by Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa – as she won by 34 seconds from Kenyan runner Brigid Kosgei with Edesa third in 2:22:05.

“The last five kilometres, I’m dead,” Hassan said. “It’s the first major marathon in Australia, in Sydney, and I’m the first one to win, so it’s big history for me.

“I felt so good in the first 5Ks and I think I pushed too hard. I pushed really hard the last 10Ks. I was like, ‘That’s not really smart. I’m going to pay the price’ but I feel I got away with it. I’m so grateful.”

Kipchoge, 40, finished ninth in 2:08:31 after dropping out of the leading pack around the 31km mark.

“I’m happy to go across the finish line. I have nothing to prove,” Kipchoge said. “My mission is to bring all the people together. Let us surpass 55,000 [from 35,000], actually, next year to run here.

“It’s a beautiful course. It’s a course whereby there is no other in this world.”

The Canberra local Leanne Pompeani led the local charge in the women’s race, crossing the finish line in seventh with a time of 2:24:47.

Pompeani was followed by Olympians Jess Stenson and Lisa Weightman in eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Melburnian Haftu Strintzos posted the best result for Australia’s men in 14th in 2:11:27, ahead of 16th-fastest Thomas Do Canto.

The former national record holder Brett Robinson was 17th in 2:15:00.

Swiss star Marcel Hug smashed the record of 1:36:38 set by the Australian legend Kurt Fearnley in 2011 to win the men’s wheelchair marathon.

The seven-time Paralympic gold medallist and marathon world record holder outpaced the field as he clocked 1:27:15 and won by more than six minutes from last year’s Paralympic marathon bronze medallist Tomoki Suzuki.

USA’s six-time Paralympic medallist Susannah Scaroni was just as dominant in the women’s category to win in 1:45:52.

Her time easily bettered the Australian star Madison De Rozario’s record time of 1:54:10 set last year.

De Rozario, who claimed back-to-back Sydney Marathon wins from 2023, did not compete on Sunday.

De Klerk’s inclusion in the squad increases the size of the group currently preparing for the first Test in Auckland to 36 players, after Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi remained behind in South Africa earlier this week to attend to family matters.

The Springboks will face their archrivals, the All Blacks, at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday 6 September, before travelling to Wellington for their second match on the tour at the Sky Stadium on Saturday 13 September.

Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea

Hurricane Katrina

Houston Chronicle

New Orleans was ‘like the wild west’

Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea

Former NBA point guard Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball in an Instagram post on Saturday night.

“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to compete against the fiercest competitors under the brightest lights and to challenge what the world thought was possible for someone who looks like me,” he wrote. “I’ve lived out my wildest childhood dreams to play in front of fans all around the world. I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball.”

Undrafted in 2010, Lin averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists across a nine-year NBA career spanning 2010-19. Lin catapulted himself into international fame while playing for the New York Knicks in 2011-12, including an 11-game span in February in which he averaged 24.6 points, 9.2 assists  and 4.1 rebounds. The shocking stretch earned the nickname “Linsanity.”

Lin became a full-time starting point guard the following two seasons in Houston before logging short stints with the Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks and Raptors. He also played for teams in the Chinese Basketball Association, Taiwan Professional Basketball League and the NBA G League.

Former NBA point guard Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball in an Instagram post on Saturday night.

“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to compete against the fiercest competitors under the brightest lights and to challenge what the world thought was possible for someone who looks like me,” he wrote. “I’ve lived out my wildest childhood dreams to play in front of fans all around the world. I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball.”

Undrafted in 2010, Lin averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists across a nine-year NBA career spanning 2010-19. Lin catapulted himself into international fame while playing for the New York Knicks in 2011-12, including a 10-game span in February in which he averaged 24.6 points, 9.2 assists  and 4.1 rebounds. The shocking stretch earned the nickname “Linsanity.”

Lin became a full-time starting point guard the following two seasons in Houston before logging short stints with the Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks and Raptors. He also played for teams in the Chinese Basketball Association, Taiwan Professional Basketball League and the NBA G League.

Trusting her natural ability, and the work she is doing with coach Wim Fissette to further improve, has also been the key to Swiatek turning around her season.

After a slump by her lofty standards at the start of the year, the former long-time world number one started the final major of the season as most people’s pick for the trophy.

The recently crowned Wimbledon champion, who won the US Open in 2022, underlined her credentials on the American hard courts with victory at the Cincinnati Open.

Swiatek was far from her best against 29th seed Kalinskaya, with a low serve percentage particularly damaging, and her relief was demonstrated by an animated celebration.

“I’m happy that I came back, kept being positive and figured it out,” Swiatek added.

In the other night-session match, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia made light work of Greece’s Maria Sakkari after the pair took to court at 11:15pm local time.

Haddad Maia, seeded 18th, moved fast to wrap up a 6-1 6-2 victory, booking a last-16 match with Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova.

World No 1 Shi Yuqi survived two match points on Saturday to book a world championship final meeting with Thai titleholder Kunlavut Vitidsarn, as top seed An Se-young was upset on the women’s side of the draw.

Chinese star Shi battled back from 18-20 down in the second game to beat Canadian youngster Victor Lai 13-21, 22-20, 21-16 and keep his bid for a first world title alive.

“I felt an emotional release when this one ended,” a breathless Shi said after 80 gruelling minutes on court.

“Lai played exceptionally well indeed. Although I trailed and faced sustained pressure throughout, I remained in a remarkably composed state.”

Lai, a 20-year-old student at York University in Toronto, told reporters his “unbelievable” run to a bronze medal in Paris might just convince him his future lies away from kinesiology.

“The past couple of years have been school but I think after now and this year I will focus more on badminton and put school to the side,” he said.