Nine Australian sports stars fail drug tests

Published>Sat, Oct 23 10 12:27 PM

Sydney, Oct 23 (DPA) Nine Australian sports stars have tested positive for the banned stimulant that cost Nigerian sprinter Osayomi Oludamola her Commonwealth Games 100-metre gold medal in New Delhi this month, authorities said Saturday.

The nine, who have not been named, face two-year bans after testing positive for DMAA, or methylhexaneamine, a substance used in some bodybuilding and dietary supplements and in party drugs.

Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Perry Crosswhite said no members of the team that competed in New Delhi had tested positive.

Drug testing at the Commonwealth Games is the responsibility of the World Anti-Doping Agency, but its rubric is the same as the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

'I can confirm that ASADA tested our team before they went away, and certainly they would have advised us if any of them had tested positive before they went,' Crosswhite said. 'We have had no positives as far as our team in Delhi is concerned.'

The positive results prompted the ASADA to warn athletes about the inadvertent use of the substance.

'This spike in positive test results is a timely reminder to all athletes to exercise the utmost caution in checking the contents of supplements and other products they choose to use,' ASADA chief executive Aurora Andruska said.

The substance was put on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list at the end of last year, and positive tests carry a maximum two-year penalty.

Sports Minister Mark Arbib was quick to absolve Australian athletes of doping. 'I would hate to see an athlete receive a ban because they hadn't carefully checked the ingredients of a supplement,' he said.

Andruska said DMAA was marketed under the trade name Geranamine as a substance with fat-burning properties.

'Geranium oil, this has been around for years, so it's not a new substance,' she said. 'The main thing here is that we ensure that athletes are aware of the strict liability principle under the World Anti-Doping Code, and under that, they are ultimately responsible for any substance found in their body regardless of how it got there.'

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Rooney can win back fans on the pitch: Ex-Man U stars

Published>Sat, Oct 23 10 12:07 PM

London, Oct 23(ANI): Former Manchester United stars insist that striker Wayne Rooney can win back fans and team-mates by doing his talking on the pitch.

United legend Lou Macari said that Rooney should not have questioned manager Sir Alex Ferguson's ambition, but insisted that the 24-year-old would strike back if fans support him.

"There's a bit of rebuilding to be done. Supporters hold the key to how well Wayne does, if they'll forgive him and accept him back," Macari said.

Former winger Mickey Thomas believes that fans would welcome their hero back.

"I think they're going to be absolutely delighted. They want him back on that pitch scoring goals. It'll be all forgotten," the Daily Express quoted Thomas, as saying.

Former midfielder Clayton Blackmore believes that the saga has highlighted Ferguson's strengths as a manager.

"It think it just shows how strong and how powerful he is. Wayne could end up being an even better player," Blackmore said.

In a dramatic change of events, Rooney - who demanded to leave United earlier this week - ended doubts over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

He is now the highest-paid player at United, overtaking defender Rio Ferdinand.

The striker, who was previously on 90,000 pounds per week, is now understood to be earning a basic salary in excess of 150,000 pounds per week. (ANI)

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Pak pacer Mohammad Asif withdraws challenge to provisional suspension

Published>Sat, Oct 23 10 11:53 AM

Dubai, Oct. 23 (ANI): Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has confirmed that he has withdrawn his challenge to the provisional suspension imposed on him on September 2, 2010 pending determination of the charges brought against him under the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code.

An ICC release said arrangements are now being made for the challenges being made by Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir against their provisional suspensions to be heard in Dubai on 30 and 31 October 2010.

The ICC will not make any further comment at this stage. (ANI)

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Uchimura, Mustafina bag all-around gymnastics golds

Sat, Oct 23 10 11:37 AM

Japan's Kohei Uchimura and Russia's Aliya Mustafina won the all-around titles at the World Gymnastics Championships on Friday.

Uchimura claimed his second straight world all-around men's title with a score of 92.331 after needing only 12.784 on his final event to win and easily clinching gold with 15.066.

He finished ahead of Philipp Boy of Germany to become the fifth man to win two world titles but only the second to claim them consecutively after Yang Wei in 2006 and 2007.

"I have been doing well in practice but to do the same in the event is a different thing," Uchimura told reporters.

"I was not thinking about winning gold twice in a row, I just wanted to finish each piece well."

The 16-year-old Mustafina finished ahead of Olympic team champion Jiang Yuyuan of China to give the Russians a second gold, two days after leading them to their first world title.

Mustafina established a big lead over her rivals and needed 14.000 on her final event, the floor exercise, to pass Jiang. Her brilliant routine produced 15.033 for a total of 61.032.

"My coach told me I could win this gold but I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself and tried to stay as calm as possible," Mustafina said.

The bronze medals went to Americans Jonathan Horton, an Olympic silver medallist on the horizontal bar, and Rebecca Bross, who fought back after a fall off the beam.

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No practice for teams ahead of final ODI, due to rain

Sat, Oct 23 10 11:21 AM

Margao, Oct 23 (PTI) Persistent rains today forced cancellation of the practice sessions of both the Indian and Australian cricket teams on the eve of the third and final One-day here. It rained consistently last night before stopping early in the morning. However, it started raining again around 9:00am, forcing the groundsmen to cover the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. Australia need to win tomorrow''s match to square the three-martch series. India had won the second match in Visakhapatnam to take a 1-0 lead while the first match was abandoned due to rains in Kochi.

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Rangers down Yanks to reach first World Series

Published>Sat, Oct 23 10 11:17 AM

The Texas Rangers reached the World Series for the first time in their 50 years as a franchise by beating the New York Yankees 6-1 on Friday to win the American League Championship Series.

The win gave them a 4-2 triumph in the best-of-seven series and put them into the Fall Classic against the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants, who lead it 3-2.

Rookie closer Neftali Feliz struck out former Ranger Alex Rodriguez for the final out, igniting wild celebrations on the diamond and among the crowd of more than 51,000 at Rangers Ballpark.

Starting pitcher Colby Lewis won his second game of the series by throwing eight sterling innings and giving up three hits, and designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero drove in the first three runs to lead the Rangers to victory.

The Rangers rejoiced in the middle of the diamond after winning the American League pennant for a first time and eliminating last year's World Series winners, hugging each other and falling into a massive pileup near the mound.

After more hugs, they sprayed ginger ale in glee and poured the soda over each other's heads in deference to slugger Josh Hamilton, who has overcome drug and alcohol abuse.

Hamilton, who batted .350 with four home runs and seven runs batted in, was named Most Valuable Player of the series.

"This group is here because they don't know how to fail," said Hamilton, choked with emotion. "The chemistry of this team is like something I've never known anywhere."

ICE COLD

Guerrero, who had been ice cold at the bat without a single RBI, made up for lost time on Friday as the Yankees walked Hamilton intentionally three times to take their chances with the designated hitter.

His groundball out in the first brought home the first run, but it was his ringing two-out, two-run double to dead center that really set the Rangers on their way.

The blast off Yankees starter Phil Hughes snapped a 1-1 tie and was followed by a two-run homer by Nelson Cruz off reliever David Robertson that gave Texas a four-run lead and broke the game open.

Lewis, meanwhile, mowed down the vaunted New York attack, which had led the league in runs scored. The right-hander did not give up his first hit until a fifth-inning double by Rodriguez, who scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 1-1.

The Texas pitcher kept the pressure on even after getting some breathing room thanks to the Rangers rally, striking out the side in the eighth inning before giving way to Feliz.

"I'm speechless," Lewis, a former Texas top draft pick who played the previous two seasons in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp, told a TV interviewer. "I never thought I'd be in this position.

"To get an opportunity to go to Japan, I'm very grateful for that. And for the Texas Rangers organization to bring me back, I'm very grateful."

The defeat ended the Yankees' quest for a 28th World Series title. "They beat us. They out-hit us, they out-pitched us, out-played us," said New York skipper Joe Girardi.

Rangers manager Ron Washington was bursting with pride in his players.

"They show up every single day and they leave their hearts on the field," he said. "Tonight you've seen exactly what they've worked hard for since February."

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Now nine Aussie athletes test positive for methylhexaneamine

Sat, Oct 23 10 11:07 AM

Melbourne, Oct 23 (PTI) Nine Australian athletes have tested positive for banned stimulant methylhexaneamine and some of them could be from the Commonwealth Games squads. The authorities have not revealed the identity of the athletes but they did not rule out CWG athletes as being among those who returned positive tests, a media report claimed. "It is believed NRL and AFL players may have also been among those who tested positive in what could become Australia''s biggest doping scandal," a report in the ''Daily Telegraph'' said. According to the report, the testing period is believed to have covered this year''s NRL and AFL grand finals and pre- and post-Commonwealth Games periods but not the 10 days of Games competition, which was covered by international anti-doping authorities. The positive results prompted the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to take the extraordinary measure of sending an urgent warning to all Australian athletes about inadvertent use of the substance. "With the spike in the number of positive test results for methylhexaneamine in Australia, we are warning athletes to take extreme caution and double check the contents of any supplements and other products they use," ASADA CEO Aurora Andruska said. Federal Sports Minister Mark Arbib has also urged athletes to take extra precautions. "We are warning athletes to take extreme caution and double check the contents of any supplements they use," he was quoted as saying in the report. Nigerian runner Osayomi Oludamola was tripped off her Commonwealth Games gold medal for testing positive for the same substance.

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