away quickly
olympics davis drives for five after controversy
washington jan afp
world champion speedskater shani davis is set to try for five gold medals at the
vancouver winter olympics and banish memories of bitter controversy that
enveloped him at the turin games
fellow american chad hedrick went for five golds in italy but repeatedly
criticized davis for not skating in team pursuit to focus on individual races
it was us team pursuit defeat that ended hedrick drive for five
it still shani versus chad but it lot different hedrick said
this time hedrick declined spot to focus on other events putting
davis in position to be the first us skater to win five events at an olympics
since eric heiden won record five speedskating gold medals in at lake
placid
those are very big shoes to fill the interview reluctant davis said in
october would just like to be shani davis
now davis is set to start his bid on february with the and end it with
the on february in two of his least likely medal events
davis three time and two time world champion is the world
record holder at each distance and won olympic gold and
silver
in world cup races this season davis is for with south koreans mo
tae bum and lee kyou hyuk his nearest cup rivals world champion trevor
marsicano another american is also threat
in the davis is of this season his only loss coming to hedrick with
norway havard bokko second in the cup chase
davis will have trouble in the where he stands th in the world cup
chase and in the and where he ranks th
south koreans lee kang seok who has not won since the season opener and lee
kyou hyuk who won the last three pre olympic races are favorites
canada jeremy wotherspoon the world record holder owns record
world cup wins but olympic gold has eluded him he settled for silver in
falling at the start in and finishing ninth in
dutchman sven kramer is three time reigning world champion at and
the olympic runner up at is favored for gold in all three
events but bokko last year and world runner up could surprise
european and asian stars will test host nation heroines on the women side
germany jenny wolf three time world champion who broke her own world
record in december has six world cup wins this season
china wang beixing four time worlds runner up has two wins this season
and joins korean lee sang hwa and japan nao kodaira as threat
australian born canadian christine nesbitt the world champion is
for in the world cup season nesbitt is also threat ranking second
to compatriot and olympic runner up kristina groves in the cup standings
dutch star ireen wust and olympic champion anni friesinger of germany also
will contend
five time olympic medalist clara hughes of canada will try to defend her
title but czech reigning world champion and world record holder martina
sablikova is favored
canada which set team pursuit world record in december also boasts five time
medalist cindy klassen the reigning olympic champion who is
recovering from surgery on both knees
olympics london olympic dream becomes reality
london jan afp
the stadiums that will play host to gold medal winning performances at the
olympic games are fast taking shape in once rundown area of east london
bulldozers roar and forests of cranes dot the landscape as orange warning lights
flash the site is little boy dream come to life stretching as far as the
naked eye can see
the main stadium with its distinctive crossed white girders is unmistakeable
at the edge of the development less spectacular than the bird nest stadium
for the beijing olympics but imposing all the same
the other striking building dominating the skyline is the aquatics centre
designed by iraqi born architect zaha hadid its half completed roof resembling
curled leaf
in the distance the first of apartment blocks is nearing completion in the
olympic village which will house athletes and officials during the
games
david higgins an australian recruited as chief executive of the olympic
development authority because of his experience of building venues for the
sydney olympics is satisfied with the progress
we are well into the structure now on all the major venues and the village and
media centre and in year time the structure will be finished on virtually
all those projects he said in an interview with afp
you can see lot of it coming out of the ground now as well as the big
shopping centre at the middle of the site
the site workforce will mushroom by to this year as the
transformation of an area once covered with largely dilapidated warehouses and
car repair workshops accelerates
and the once sceptical local population appears to be coming round to the idea
of playing host to the olympic circus recent surveys have shown support
running at around percent
julianne marriott tourist guide said the interest in visiting the site was
increasing all the time
we are starting to see more people from abroad now with people coming from
other european countries but also from russia because they are hosting the
winter olympics and from rio which is organising the games
but most of all it just the great british taxpayers who want to find out what
is happening here what our money going on and what is going to happen after
the olympics she said
the key to securing the support of local people has been promises that they will
be left with more than just white elephant once the olympic flame is
extinguished in two and half years time
understandably people want to know what the long term benefits will be of
project with an overall budget of over eight billion pounds nine billion euros
billion dollars
so separate company has been created to manage the legacy of the olympic
park with london keen to show it has learned from the mistakes made by host
cities in the past
many of the facilities for the athens games are rusting away and the bird
nest is still seeking post games role in beijing the under used stadium was
recently filled with fake snow to become winter wonderland
but organisers say the london site has been designed so it can become self
contained city capable of hosting thriving community once the games are over
an unusual feature compared to other olympics is that the stadium
capacity will be shrunk to around after the games by dismantling the
upper tiers
higgins is cautious about the thorny issue of the legacy it is not his
organisation responsibility but as he gazes across london from his office in
the canary wharf financial district he can see the long term potential
the thing that makes this project so unique and the difference for example from
sydney is that this site is mile from canary wharf it is two miles from the
city of london it has nine major railway lines intersecting on the site it
going to be new city
that will bring jobs opportunities and it ll be place that people want to
live in because of the infrastructure investments and the parks
importantly the guts of new city the power stations sewage system and
the open spaces are being constructed now rather than after development
occurs higgins points out
think it is all incredibly exciting said marriott it is going to be
brilliant place both during and after the games
cycling clean green cycling emerges from doping era
adelaide australia jan afp
tough anti doping measures exciting new teams and growing support base of
amateur riders are helping cycling shed its drug spoiled image and enter more
promising era
the governing body doping crackdown has dramatically slowed the welter of
damaging drug cases while the potential of new outfits like britain big
budget team sky is generating renewed interest
the developments together with an increase in health and environment conscious
amateur riders leave team officials optimistic that cycling is sport on the
rise
it definitely cleaning up its act you might always get few black sheep but
that is rapidly diminishing as the new generation is coming through team sky
manager sean yates told afp
everyone knows that cycling is leading the way in drug testing and the
consequences are that we ve got clean sport virtually
the international cycling union uci under pressure to wipe out doping has
won praise for its biological passport which logs riders test results to
check for variations over time
according to american bob stapleton billionaire telecoms entrepreneur and owner
of the htc columbia team fans are regaining confidence that they are watching
drug free sport
the biological passport work in progress that it is is still by far the best
anti doping programme in any sport he said
it very forward looking think it can give sponsors and fans confidence
that what they re seeing is legit and give them hope for good future for the
sport
stapleton said cycling had also benefited from the rise in everyday riders
hoping to lose weight and reduce their carbon footprint
ahead of this week tour down under seven time tour de france winner lance
armstrong attracted some amateurs to an impromptu ride announced on
twitter
the sport is growing well in the united states because it now part of
healthy lifestyle stapleton said
it one of the few things you can realistically do to become more physically
fit and it got reputation now as green form of transportation
cycling is also in the middle of shake up prompted by the entry of team sky
who are making waves with their financial might meticulous preparations and
bold intention to produce britain first tour de france winner
on sunday sky made an immediate impact when they finished first and second in
their debut race here leaving htc columbia sprinter andre greipel third and
armstrong halfway down the field
yates compares sky to formula one team working hard on aerodynamics and using
innovative research such as testing riding positions in wind tunnel
the team uses weather research mind coach and nutritionists to mix its energy
drinks and drives around in state of the art bus complete with swivel seats
mobile broadband mood lighting and stretching area
cycling is not rocket science but every little bit adds up yates said
when you re riding thousands and thousands of miles and the difference between
winning and losing is sometimes thousandths of second then obviously it makes
difference
the team innovations are drawing close attention from the media and rivals
like armstrong and also stapleton whose htc columbia dominated last season
going to keep my eyes on sky they ve got the biggest budget by far
they ve got lot of expertise going to look at what they do and see what
we can borrow from them stapleton said
however sky and fellow newcomers bmc have also caused stir by their
aggressive pursuit of top riders including olympic star bradley wiggins sky
and australia cadel evans bmc
the moves bring added spice to the sport with stapleton on guard for any
attempt on his contracted riders
don fear that at all he warned we can play that game very well defence
or offence whatever it takes
argentina kirchner meets with emir of qatar
buenos aires jan afp
argentine president cristina kirchner met monday with qatar emir sheikh hamad
bin khalifa al thani on his tour of latin america to promote trade with the
region officials said
accompanied by several of his cabinet members the emir and kirchner signed
several cooperation agreements in the areas of economy trade and sports the
president office said
the qatari ruler visit is an opportunity to expand bilateral relations and
their considerable potential in trade economy political and cultural issues
the foreign ministry said in statement
the emir regional tour includes brazil venezuela and costa rica it added
argentina and qatar struck diplomatic relations in kirchner last year
attended the second arab latin american summit in doha
football butcher caley chop motherwell from cup
glasgow jan afp
former sydney boss terry butcher said he hoped his inverness caledonian thistle
team could use their upset scottish cup win over motherwell as boost for
further success in the league this term
goals from nauris bulvitis and dougie imrie secured first division caley first
victory in nine attempts against scottish premier league motherwell club once
managed by butcher
caley are currently fifth in their division points adrift of leaders dundee
but butcher said he hoped the win over motherwell would act as spur to their
promotion bid
we are currently on our longest unbeaten run this season which is five
matches and hopefully this will give the players lot more confidence and we
can really start to mount challenge for promotion butcher said after
monday victory which set up fifth round tie against top flight kilmarnock
don think we ve been far away at times in some games this season and we
really should have been higher up the league but sure win like this can
only help to kick the players on
britain cold snap meant monday match was caley first since the end of last
year and former england centre half butcher praised his players attitude
they haven moaned about training indoors in the gym or on the beach well
not to me anyway he said
they are decent bunch of guys and really happy for them that they managed
to overcome motherwell who are very good side
the players put lot of work in but it just showed that if you re willing to
do that then you get your rewards
he added kilmarnock away is going to be another difficult tie but we
certainly don have anything to fear we ll certainly go there looking forward
to the match
in other ties jimmy calderwood saw kilmarnock win for the first time since he
became manager as they defeated fellow spl strugglers falkirk
it said something about the match that calderwood whose first game in charge
since succeeding jim jefferies ended in home loss to motherwell missed
manuel pascali rd minute winner on monday as he had his head in his hands
after gavin skelton preceding shot had hit the crossbar
didn know lot about it thought it was bad luck and thought jesus
we ve hit the crossbar calderwood said
then saw them jumping about couldn see but it seemed like we had bit
of luck
time will tell but maybe that is the wee break we needed
elsewhere st johnstone proved too strong for third division forfar winning
but third division albion rovers held second division stirling to goalless
draw
otherwise results went with the formbook ayr beating brechin montrose
defeating edinburgh city and ross county derailing inverurie loco works bid
for more cup glory with victory
football benin out to shock mighty egyptians
benguela angola jan afp
the africa cup of nations group game between egypt and benin here on wednesday
will match the continent heavyweights up against the underdogs who are fired
up to get their first ever win in the competition
the squirrels are third in group with point from two matches but still have
chance of progressing to the next round if they shock the african champions
and second placed nigeria lose to mozambique
we have not given up yet because we still have match to play and if we get
the results we wish for we could still remain in the tournament we will fight
till the end said benin coach michel dessuyer
benin have already pulled off shock result in the qualifiers when they pipped
the black stars of ghana at home in september courtesy of late winner by
youngster mohammed aoudou
six time champions egypt on the other hand will be hoping to extend new
record of going unbeaten in matches in the championship since the
tournament where they last lost to bitter regional rivals algeria
the previous record of games without defeat was held by cameroon who
achieved this record between and
the pharaohs are top of group after they recorded maximum points from their
first two matches against nigeria and mozambique
they thus became the second team after the ivory coast to reach the last eight
in angola and as result coach hassan shehata will give several fringe players
run out against the squirrels on wednesday
shehata has disclosed that first choice goalkeeper essam el hadary will along
with several other key players like al ahly central defender wael gomaa be
rested and so afford him an opportunity to assess the likes of enppi midfielder
abdelaziz tawfik and moatasem salem from ismaila
the egypt coach has bemoaned the lack of quality goalkeepers in the country
even suggesting that foreign goalkeepers be banned from the domestic
championship so that young home grown goalkeepers get better chance to come
through
skipper ahmed hassan will also be in action for his th cap to equal the
all time egyptian record of caps set by striker hossam hassan
two strikes in as many matches as second half substitute have thrown the
spotlight on al ittihad midfielder mohamed gedo nagy here in benguela
he is now likely to start against benin team who will be missing their
biggest star stephane sessegnon of paris saint germain through suspension
dessuyer will most probably play either the dimunitive arnaud seka or pascal
angan in place of sessegnon
seka is the shortest player at angola standing at only about metres
he was the crowd favourite when he came on as late substitute against nigeria
while angan is year old attacking midfielder who plays his club football in
morocco
last year both teams clashed in friendly in cairo with egypt running away
winners benin goal was scored by their nigerian born striker razak
omotoyossi
the team leading scorer in the qualifiers with eight goals from matches
omotoyossi was again on target in the opening group game at the ombaka stadium
against mozambique as the squirrels failed to defend two goal lead to draw
top officials were disappointed even though this was the west africans first
point ever at the nations cup so much so that they ordered four coaches from the
country under and under team down to angola to assist frenchman dessuyer
for the match they lost to nigeria
experienced goalkeeper rachad chitou was forced out of the match against nigeria
through injury but he is expected to be fit in time for this match after he
resumed training on monday evening in catumbila
cnn star performs brain surgery on us military ship
on board the uss carl vinson jan afp
star cnn medical correspondent sanjay gupta practicing neurosurgeon
performed brain surgery on year old haitian girl monday aboard us
military ship
the girl whose name was not released was injured in last week devastating
earthquake and was diagnosed as having cm inch chunk of concrete
embedded in her skull
the ship surgeon called for neurosurgeon which are in short supply in the
region amidst the mammoth and often chaotic rescue and recovery operation
with the help of cnn producer we called cnn in atlanta who then patched us
through to doctor gupta in port au prince said the vinson deputy public
affairs officer erik schneider
someone got hold of our international desk year old gupta later
recalled they said there was an urgent call from the carl vinson so put
call in to them and there was something about head injury
assisted by los angeles surgeon henri ford and the ship surgeon kathryn
berndt gupta pulled off the surgery between his multiple reports for the
international news network on the massive quake that hit the caribbean nation
navy news report confirmed the events and added that second operation was
needed to remove sliver of debris in the girl skull that the medical team
could not initially reach
the girl was neurologically intact and there wasn any penetration of the
brain said ford originally from haiti
gupta and ford said they anticipated the girl would make full recovery
was honored to help out said gupta afterward have profound respect
for the capabilities of the us navy and the medical team on board the carl
vinson
gupta was considered for the post of president barack obama surgeon general
but withdrew his name in march last year due to family and career reasons
football amodu faces rival for nigeria world cup coach post
lubango angola jan afp
shuaibu amodu faces the man who could succeed him as coach of nigeria when they
play mozambique in key africa cup of nations game at tundavala stadium on
wednesday
reports have linked mart nooij from the netherlands with the awesome task of
leading nigeria against argentina greece and south korea at the world cup
in south africa
and if mozambique win the group match and qualify for the quarter finals at
the expense of nigeria amodu seems certain to be sacked while the shares of
nooij will inevitably soar
pressure on amodu heightened after loss to defending champions egypt in
their first match before surviving win or quit ultimatum as yakubu aiyegbeni
penalty delivered laboured victory over benin
nigerian football officials have told the coach nothing less than nations cup
semi finals place will do although he was fired ahead of the world cup
despite finishing third at the african tournament the same year
nooij caught the eye of nigeria after his mambas snakes were unlucky to be
held in maputo and lost to stoppage time goal in abuja when the countries met
in nations cup qualifiers
before heading south to mozambique the dutch coach had major impact at youth
level in the west african state of burkina faso leading the national team to
the world championship for the first time
egypt who face benin in the other group fixture to be staged at the same time
in benguela have maximum six points from two outings and are certain of
quarter finals slot
the other three countries remain in contention to join the pharaohs with twice
champions nigeria favoured because draw will suffice while benin and
mozambique must win to have any chance of surviving the mini league cull
although collecting solitary point from possible six and lying bottom of the
standings mozambique have impressed during their fourth appearance at the
biennial african football showcase
they came from two goals behind to draw with benin and matched egypt for
minutes before second dario khan own goal in as many games gifted the title
holders lead they doubled via late volley
we made it very hard for egypt despite giving away soft goal that forced us
to chase the game otherwise it would have been lot more difficult for the
reigning champions to beat us said nooij
but nigeria midfielder and man of the match against benin osaze odemwingie is
convinced his team mates will emerge victorious and reach the knockout phase as
they seek first african title since beating zambia years ago in tunis
we lacked confidence against egypt in our first game but were much more relaxed
when beating benin and believe we will deliver an even better performance on
wednesday promised the moscow based star
mozambique are team we know having played them twice last year and am
confident we will give our best display so far in angola win the match and
advance to the last eight
tennis major redevelopment for australian open unveiled
melbourne jan afp
the australian open will become the first grand slam in the world to boast three
undercover courts after organisers unveiled multi million dollar
transformation of melbourne park on tuesday
victorian state premier john brumby said million dollars million us
had been earmarked for the first stage of redevelopment to stop rival cities
like shanghai or dubai from poaching the tournament
the plans include facelift of margaret court arena including the installation
of retractable roof and an extra seats as well as new eastern plaza
that will house new courts
it will make the first grand slam of the season the only major tournament to
boast three covered courts rod laver arena and hisense arena are the others
the state government said the revamp would ensure the event stays in melbourne
beyond
the open is the biggest sporting event anywhere in the world for the month of
january and is the largest annual event anywhere in the southern hemisphere
brumby said in statement
that why the victoria government is making this significant investment to
keep this prestigious tournament in victoria
melbourne park contract to host the event expires in and there are fears
it will then be vulnerable to cashed up rivals in asia and elsewhere seeking the
prestige of staging tennis major
shanghai dubai madrid and sydney have all previously expressed keen interest
in hosting the tournament
the world best players love coming to melbourne and our significant
investment in melbourne park will guarantee the australian open remains in
melbourne until at least brumby added
the open has been played exclusively in melbourne since moving from the
grass courts of kooyong to the purpose built hardcourt venue at melbourne park
in
football africa cup of nations group scenarios
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations title holders egypt are assured of quarter finals place
whatever happens in final group matches on wednesday
but any country from nigeria benin or mozambique could join the pharaohs in
the knockout phase of the first biennial african football showcase to be hosted
by portuguese speaking country
here are scenarios facing the four teams as they prepare for the last fixtures
that pit egypt against benin in benguela while nigeria confront mozambique in
lubango
egypt
draw against benin will clinch top place and benguela quarter final against
the group runners up they must fancy their chances having won friendly
in cairo when the countries last met
nigeria
draw will assure them of second place because even if benin shock egypt and
finish level on four points with their west african neighbours nigeria would
finish runners up on head to head rule
benin
to finish second they must spring upset of tournament and defeat six time
champions egypt while hoping mozambique shock nigeria to leave minnows level on
points and head to head record and forcing other criteria to come into play
mozambique
can reach quarter finals for first time if they overcome nigeria and egypt win
or draw should benin defy the odds and triumph goal difference goals scored
or disciplinary records would determine who advances to last eight
standings
played won drawn lost goals for against points
egypt qualified
nigeria
benin
mozambique
note group winners and runners up qualify for quarter finals
fixtures
times gmt
jan
at benguela
benin egypt
at lubango
mozambique nigeria
previous results
jan
at benguela
egypt nigeria
benin mozambique
jan
nigeria benin
egypt mozambique
criteria to separate teams with same poihts
head to head record
goal difference on final standings
goals scored on final standings
group disciplinary record yellow and red cards
afp sports schedule for tuesday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for tuesday january
tennis
second day of the australian open in melbourne sees both top seeds in action
with serena williams up against talented pole urszula radwanska while roger
federer plays russian igor andreev
coverage by martin parry and robert smith
master slug tennis open aus
football
in the africa cup of nations four time champions ghana are on the brink of
going out and having lost several of their established stars could have done
without the loss of michael essien they take on burkina faso needing to win to
progress
coverage by nick reeves david legge and samm addu
english league cup semi final first leg action with manchester city hosting city
rivals manchester united fa cup third round ties which have twice been
postponed with forest green hoping to become the only non league side in the
next round when they travel to the league oldest club notts county
in scotland celtic will be looking to at least keep their hopes alive in the
scottish cup away at morton while bitter rivals and runaway league leaders
rangers host hamilton their third meeting in days in fourth round replay
slugs fbl afr fbl eng lcup fbl eng facup fbl sco cup
cricket
hosts bangladesh are in their first innings going into the third day of the
first test runs behind india in chittagong
coverage by shafiq alam
slugs cricket ban ind
cycling
tour down under in australia gets underway in adelaide
coverage by talek harris
slug cycling aus tour
figure skating
european championships in tallinn
coverage by emmeline moore
master slug fskate eur
winter olympics
fourth part of advancer package filed ahead of the winter olympics in
