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Olympics

World 100m champion Christian Coleman to miss Olympics despite ban reduction

The American missed three drugs tests in the space of a year and was initially hit with a two-year suspension after a ruling from the Athletics Integrity Unit.

Coleman took responsibility for a first missed test on January 16, 2019, and claimed the second, on April 26 of the same year, was due to a "filing failure".

He said he was only notified about a third missed test in December 2019, the following day. Coleman said he had been out Christmas shopping but had returned during the one-hour window to be tested and questioned why he was not contacted by telephone by the tester.

Coleman took his challenge to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which has partially upheld the 25-year-old's appeal.

CAS has ruled Coleman's ban, which was originally due to end on May 13, 2022, will now expire on November 14. It means he will miss the Olympics, which run from July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo.

However, he will be able to defend his world title in Oregon next year.

A CAS statement read: "In coming to its decision, the CAS Panel determined that Christian Coleman had indeed committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under Article 2.4 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, but found the athlete's degree of negligence to be lower than that established in the Challenged Decision: the Athlete was not at home during the 60-minute time slot on the day of the out-of-competition doping control (9 December 2019), as he should have been, and the Athlete should have been on 'high-alert' on that day, given the two existing whereabout failures against him. 

"On the other hand, however, had the Athlete been called by the Doping Control Officer, he would have been able to return to his apartment during the 60-minute window and a test would have been concluded. Although a telephone call during the 60-minute window was not required by the rules, it was nevertheless reasonable for the Athlete to expect such a call, as a matter of standard practice among other Doping Control Officers.

"In conclusion, the CAS Panel determined that an 18-month period of ineligibility was the appropriate sanction in the circumstances."

World and Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo announces pregnancy, will miss World Champs in Budapest

The 28-year-old two-time Olympic champion has announced that she is pregnant with her first child with husband Estonian decathlete Maicel Uibo, whom she married in 2017.

She made the announcement on Instagram on Saturday.

“New Year, New Blessing. We can’t wait to meet our little bundle of joy. Happy sixth anniversary,” she posted underneath pictures of her and her husband.

Miller-Uibo won Olympic 400 titles at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro and defended her title at the 2020 Toyko Games held in 2021. She won her first world title in the 400m in Eugene, Oregon in 2022 after being the runner-up in Beijing in 2015 and Doha in 2019 when she was sensationally beaten by Salwa Eid Naser, who ran a blistering 48.14, the third-fastest time in history.

Last season, Miller-Uibo stated that 2022 was the last time she was going to be running the 400m and stepping down to the 200m.

World Athletics 'ready to work with IOC' on new date for Tokyo Games

The IOC confirmed on Sunday it was considering pushing back the Olympics amid the coronavirus pandemic and would make a decision in the next four weeks.

However, cancellation of the Tokyo Games is not on the agenda, it said.

The announcement came after USA Track and Field and USA Swimming urged for a postponement of the event.

Following the news, World Athletics revealed it had written to the IOC with feedback from its athletes, and it was keen to look for a new date in the calendar.

"World Athletics welcomes discussions with the IOC to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and wrote to the IOC earlier today to relay this feedback from its area presidents, council and athletes," a statement read.

"We stand ready to work with the IOC and all sport on an alternative date."

The Games is currently scheduled to start on July 24.

Wrist surgery puts Fedrick Dacres in race against time to be fit for Olympic Games

Dacres, who has already qualified for the Olympic Games, revealed his wrist in a cast on social media after reportedly undergoing surgery on the weekend while announcing that he had started his own YouTube channel.

With the rescheduled 2020 Olympic set to run from July 23 to August 8, 2021, a mere eight months away, Dacres could be hard-pressed to be healthy in time as there is the chance that his repaired wrist could take as long as six months to heal. There is chance, however, that he could be fully healed before then.

His coach, Julian Robinson is optimistic that the 2018 Commonwealth champion and national record holder will be able to recover in time.

“There is some physical work that we can do on the intervening period. We will try and maximize that,” he said.

“However, the throwing part will have to start after he has recovered. When that is, I don’t know. Time will tell. I am praying that its sooner rather than later.”

The affable 26-year-old is Jamaica’s most successful thrower. He became the first Jamaican to win a World Championship medal when he claimed silver in Doha in 2019. In 2018, perhaps his most successful year as a professional athlete, Dacres won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Australia and the NACAC Championships in Toronto, Canada.

He is the 2015 Pan Am Games champion and has a national record of 70.78m set in Rabat on July 16 2019. He is the only Jamaican to ever throw 70m in the men’s discus.

Yohan Blake set to take ownership of Butcher's Barrel restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

The highly rated Butcher’s Barrel is known for sourcing the finest USDA Choice, Prime, and wagyu beef. The restaurant’s dinner menu boasts a variety of premium dishes, including the Delmonico ribeye, foie gras burger, Colorado bison burger, and Nebraska wagyu burger, making it a go-to destination for steak lovers.

Blake, who in October 2023 launched the Revierie Purified Water brand in Kingston, has been venturing into various business opportunities as he plans for life after athletics. The Butcher’s Barrel marks his first major restaurant venture in the United States.

“If you’re in Florida, come have dinner with me on October 8th, reserve your table early or just come by,” Blake posted on Instagram on Sunday. The post accompanied a brief video where Blake personally invited patrons to the restaurant, saying, "You’re officially invited to my restaurant launch on October 8th in Fort Lauderdale. Come on down."

As he transitions from his illustrious career on the track to life as a businessman, Blake's latest venture signals his growing focus on expanding his brand and interests beyond sport. Fans and food lovers alike are now eagerly anticipating the launch of the Butcher’s Barrel in Fort Lauderdale, where Blake will bring his signature energy to the world of fine dining.

Your gold will come' - Djokovic backs Alcaraz for future Olympics success

The Serb secured the top prize at the Games for the first time, completing a career golden slam with a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) victory.

Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic at Wimbledon to claim his second grand slam of the season last month, was reduced to tears after the match, having to step away from his post-match interview.

Djokovic was full of praise for the Spaniard's performance and predicted the silver medal is only the start of his success at the Olympics.

Another epic final, Carlos Alcaraz. El Clasico," Djokovic posted on X.

"Congratulations to you and your team for an excellent Olympics. Considering your age, your energy and the way you play, you probably have 20 more Olympics ahead of you.

"Your gold will come. Until next time, amigo."

Djokovic's appearance in Paris was his fifth Games for Serbia, and he became just the second player in the Open Era to win all four grand slams, the Olympics gold medal and the ATP Tour Finals, after Andre Agassi.

He is also the oldest player to secure the top prize in either the men's or women's singles at 37 years and 74 days since the sport returned to the schedule in 1988. 

Zheng makes Olympics history with victory over Vekic

China's Zheng, who ousted world number one and three-time reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros en route to the final, prevailed 6-2 6-3 in Saturday's final.

It makes the 21-year-old the first Asian-born player to win gold in the women's or men's singles at the Games since tennis was first introduced to the Olympics in 1896.

Zheng started the encounter fiercely, earning an early break in the second game and raced into a 3-0 lead on Court PhilippeChatrier. 

The world number seven would stay in cruise control for the remainder of the opener, seeing out her service games before ending the set with another break. 

Zheng threatened to take the match away from Vekic in double quick time as she again found a swift break of serve in the second set.

Croatia's Vekic responded well, though, hitting back by reeling off back-to-back games.

However, a break at the fourth time of asking to make it 5-3 proved decisive for Zheng, who duly served out to clinch gold.

Data Debrief: 

Zheng's triumph saw her become the second player to win the women's singles at the Olympics on clay after Jennifer Capriati (1992), since the sport's reintroduction to the Games in 1988.

She has now won 28 matches out of 36 (77.77) on the surface since the start of 23. Among players with 10+ matches played on clay in that time, only three have a better win percentage - Swiatek (91.7%), Elena Rybakina (85.2%) and Aryna Sabalenka (80.6%).

Zheng is the first Chinese player in the Open Era to claim a medal in the women's or men's singles at the Olympics, while she also joined an elite list of women to have reached the finals of the Olympics and the Australian Open in the same season. 

Steffi Graf (1988), Justine Henin (2004), Maria Sharapova (2012) and Angelique Kerber (2016) are the other players to have achieved that feat.

Zheng stuns Swiatek in straight sets to reach Olympic Games final

The sixth seed took one hour and 50 minutes to get a 6-2 7-5 win on Court Philippe Chatrier, earning her first-ever win over Swiatek.

Zheng's last two matches have both lasted three hours, but there was no sign of tiredness as she quickly stated her intent.

An early break each had the players level at 2-2, but Swiatek lost her next two serves as well, with Zheng taking advantage of her uncharacteristic mistakes to take the first set after a four-game winning run. 

The Pole looked back to her usual best at the start of the second, racing into a 4-0 lead before stumbling again as Zheng's aggressive approach saw her claw back to level 4-4.

The reigning French Open champion then had no answers after edging in front again, losing her serve once more as Zheng won the final three games to book her place in the Olympics final.

She will play either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova for the gold medal, while Swiatek could still take bronze.

Data Debrief: Zheng ends Swiatek's Roland-Garros run

Swiatek was the favourite to take the gold medal at the Olympics, especially considering her 20-match winning run on clay heading into the semi-finals.

Not only that, but she was unbeaten at Roland-Garros for 1,149 days, winning 25 consecutive matches, along with a 47-4 completed sets record during that span.

But, the five-time grand slam winner had no answers for Zheng on Thursday, who prevailed for the first time in seven meetings against Swiatek.