• Injured pair return;Hockey

Hopes of an Olympic hat-trick take dive for Van den Hoogenband;Swimming;European Championships
Craig Lord Eindhoven

770 字

2008 年 3 月 20 日

The Times

T

89

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
Virus puts Dutchman out of his home event
Age is also catching up with record-breaker
Pieter van den Hoogenband, one of the all-time greats of the sport, resembled a man struggling to come to terms with the passing of time yesterday as he withdrew from the European Championships being held in his home city in the Netherlands.
A stomach virus was cited as the reason why Eindhoven's favourite son, who is Olympic champion and world record-holder in the 100 metres freestyle, would race no more at the first event of this magnitude in the country for more than 40 years and in the pool that has been his daily training base for almost a decade.
But the big question mark over "Hoogie", who finished twentieth in the heats of the 200 metres freestyle yesterday, does not concern his short-term health. A nation, and the swimming world, wants to know if Van den Hoogenband can become the first man to win the same Olympic title - the 100 metres freestyle - at three Games.
On reputation and form, few would bet against the man who turned 30 on Friday; after all, he is the only man who can claim to have beaten Alexander Popov, Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, his great rivals. He won when it counted most, claiming the Olympic 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle titles in Sydney in 2000, beating Popov and Thorpe respectively. Four years later, in Athens, he succumbed to Thorpe but beat Phelps in the 200 metres final, then retained the 100 metres crown to join Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan in films, and Popov in an exclusive club.
Van den Hoogenband has said that he wants to "break records by so much that they will stand for years - I'd like to be the Bob Beamon of swimming". Indeed, his 47.84sec world record in the 100 metres is approaching its eighth anniversary. But much has changed since then, and even since the World Championships in Melbourne in March last year. In Paris last July, Stefan Nystrand, of Sweden, recorded 47.91sec, an effort that seemed to spark widespread improvement across the world of sprinting.
Take the 50 metres. At the 2000 Olympic Games, Van den Hoogenband won the bronze medal, 0.05sec behind Gary Hall Jr and Anthony Ervin, the Americans who shared the gold. In June last year, Van den Hoogenband's time of 22.03sec was still the ninth best of all time. It dropped out of the top 20 last month, when Eamon Sullivan, of Australia, broke Popov's world record with a stunning 21.56sec. Nine of those top 20 times in the 50 metres have been recorded since last year's World Championships.
So time is catching up with the Dutchman, who could swim laps at 4 and hailed from a sporting family. His father, Cees Rein, played water polo and is team doctor at PSV Eindhoven, while his mother, Astrid Verver, was a European junior medal-winner in 1971 at 800 metres freestyle. It was in Melbourne, at last year's World Championships, that doubt set in. In the 200 metres, he swam close to his best but was three metres shy of Phelps, 22, who beat Thorpe's world record in 1min 43.86sec. "That's my last 200 metres," the Dutchman said.
But his last 100 metres was supposed to be at the Beijing Olympics this summer. "We're looking for that one gold," Jacco Verhaeren, his coach, said. "The first dream was to win the gold medal at the Olympics, and that came with a world record. Now it's about taking that to the end. What we are most proud of is that he swam in the 1996 Olympics and he's still swimming, still able to perform quality."
But not here, not now. "I am very disappointed - after all, Eindhoven is my home town," the swimmer said as he withdrew yesterday. His coach said that he would continue to "work on his dream of winning the three in a row", but not everyone in the Netherlands shares that vision for Van den Hoogenband, whose wife, Minouche Smit, a former international swimmer who competed at the 1996 Olympics and a national record-holder still, gave birth to the couple's daughter, Daphne, in June 2006.
As one Dutch wag put it yesterday: "You'd be safer putting your money on Daphne winning at the 2024 Games."
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080320e43k0007n

Sport

Funding strategy 'threatens medals goal';Olympic Games

Ashling O'Connor, Olympics Correspondent

676 字

2008 年 3 月 20 日

The Times

T

99

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
Great Britain's target of finishing fourth in the medals table at the 2012 Olympic Games in London is at risk because of a funding strategy that depends on Pounds 100million of private money that "may not materialise", the public spending watchdog announces today.
The National Audit Office (NAO) criticises the Government's decision to seek a sixth of the Pounds 600million package promised for elite sport from commercial routes such as sponsorship. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) appointed Fast Track, the sports consultant, to raise the extra money but has not specified how it would do so in a tighter economic environment where competition for sponsors is fierce, not least from the London Olympic Organising Committee.
The NAO report concludes that the aim of raising the additional cash may not be achievable. "A key risk is that the Pounds 100million, 17 per cent of direct funding for sports, which the department plans to raise from the private sector, may not materialise or may become available too late to influence Great Britain teams' chances of success at the London Games," the report says. "UK Sport will need to take firm decisions on which sports to stop funding and when, if it is to minimise the impact of such a funding shortfall on medal performance in 2012."
The findings highlight an outstanding issue about 2012 Olympic funding that is exercising senior ministers and alarming the IOC. British Olympic officials have "ultimate goals" of finishing fourth in the medals table in London and second at the Paralympics. To meet these aims, they secured an extra Pounds 300million, with Pounds 200million from the Exchequer and Pounds 100million from the private sector.
One of the NAO's key recommendations is that the DCMS quickly assesses the appetite among potential commercial donors so UK Sport can distribute money to individual sports under its next funding round in April 2009 knowing the full extent of its resources.
"Two years after Gordon Brown trumpeted an extra Pounds 300million for elite sport in his March 2006 Budget, it is deeply shaming that UK Sport still have absolutely no guarantee that one third of that money will be forthcoming," Hugh Robertson, the Shadow Olympics Minister, said. "The Prime Minister has let down both UK Sport and the individual athletes badly."
Another key finding of the NAO report is that Britain risks jeopardising its 2012 medals target by funding sports that have little chance of producing a podium finish. The recommendation undermines the decision by Olympic officials to compete in every discipline in 2012, regardless of Britain's pedigree in the sport. They maintain that Britain should fully participate in the Games, following the example of Australia in 2000 as host nations automatically qualify for every event.
However, the report concludes that full participation may dilute UK Sport's "no compromise" approach announced in February 2005 before it secured the extra funding. "There is a risk that the wider goals, in particular their aim to help develop Great Britain teams which can compete creditably in every Olympic and Paralympic sport at London 2012, may distract UK Sport's focus and funding from its primary goal of winning medals," the report says.
This highlights the risks of earmarking Pounds 3million for handball until 2009 - essentially for a team to learn the game in Denmark - rather than putting more resources into sports with a track record. The NAO says that the "host nation effect" would not be enough to double Britain's gold medal tally of nine in Athens in 2004, when the team finished tenth in the table. This would require a "step change" in the performance of elite athletes.
John Steele, the UK Sport chief executive, emphasised that the NAO had found "significant progress" in the funding of elite sport. "We recognise, too, the risks they highlight - in particular the fact that our ambitions are dependent on the full funding package being available," he said.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080320e43k00060

Sport

Andrew plans meeting with Johnson to discuss role with England;Rugby union

Owen Slot, Chief Sports Reporter

807 字

2008 年 3 月 20 日

The Times

T

94

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
* Former captain would want hands-on position
* Ashton expected to keep job as head coach
Rob Andrew, the RFU's director of elite rugby, will leave questions over the future of the England coaching team behind him when he goes on holiday to Greece this evening. Before he leaves, he will meet Martin Johnson, England's World Cup-winning captain in 2003, with a view to sounding him out on a possible role that he may play within the management set-up.
The indications from Twickenham are that Andrew will back Brian Ashton to stay on in his role as head coach, which makes it difficult to see how he could create a workable structure that would house Johnson, too.
Insiders suggested yesterday that Andrew was also to meet Jake White, the former South Africa coach. However, when Andrew returns from Greece for the day on Wednesday to present his post-Six Nations review to the RFU's management board, it is believed that he will give Ashton his support. Ashton, though, has made it clear that, although he is keen to have a team manager, he does not want anyone who expects to be instrumental in matters such as selection.
Johnson acknowledges that he has little coaching experience and that he would not want to coach, but he would not be interested in taking a purely front-of house role. His strength would be in developing the culture of a winning team, which starts with the business of selection.
Ideal for the managerial position, in Ashton's view, is Phil de Glanville, another former England captain, whom he met before the RBS Six Nations Championship. They agreed at that meeting that they would be interested in resuming their talks once the tournament had concluded, but De Glanville has not heard from Ashton since.
"If the role was the right one, then I would certainly be interested," De Glanville said yesterday. He also said that he was comfortable not to be involved in team coaching and selection because recent years working for Sport England had made management his particular forte.
If England had been more successful in the Six Nations, it seems Ashton would have been able to pick his own man. Yet Andrew is driving developments and it appears that he is aiming at a solution that neither Ashton nor Johnson would find easy to accept.
This was the view of Dean Richards, who was a team-mate and team manager to Johnson at Leicester, his former club. An individual such as Johnson would want total control, Richards believes. "That could make Brian and the other coaches a bit nervous," he said. "But Martin's understanding of the game is very high, second to none." But for many, the time has come for Andrew to stamp his authority on the situation and the concern is that he is being pushed towards his decisions by his employers.
"I think this is a defining moment for Rob," Simon Halliday, the former England player and member of Club England, the RFU committee, said yesterday. "People's reservations with him are that he hasn't stood up to be counted. He has to do that now. We have an unprecedented number of young, quality players right now. Our job is to harness them. You can achieve great things by getting your structure right. Just look at Wales."
There is a belief at Leicester that he is ready to reposition himself in the context of the game, in which he has enjoyed a peripheral role as commentator and ambassador for the past three years. "I sense that Martin is at that period of his life, post-retirement, when he is looking at the next stage," Peter Wheeler, the club's chief executive, said.
Kay, Johnson's wife, is pregnant with their second child, but he has agreed to a hands-on role as a member of the Professional Game Board, which will run the elite game in England from July. Were he to have a management role with England, that would contribute towards the nonpartisan atmosphere that his colleagues in his other role are seeking.
At the same time, the RFU must cover the imminent departure of Conor O'Shea, the former Ireland full back who has accepted a job as national director of the English Institute of Sport. O'Shea has been the director of the national academy for the past two years and will begin his new post before the Olympic Games in August.
There is speculation that John Fletcher, deposed as director of rugby at Newcastle Falcons this month, may be heading for the RFU, bringing with him considerable experience of running the Newcastle academy.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080320e43k0005s

Overseas news

Top hardliner sounds call for 'life or death struggle' to quell uprising

Jane MacArtney in Beijing

473 字

2008 年 3 月 20 日

The Times

T

43

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
A home-made bomb thrown at a paramilitary police patrol in Lhasa has hardened Beijing's resolve to punish anti-Chinese rioters, with officials issuing wanted lists for 17 Tibetans, including two monks and a woman.
The hardline Communist Party secretary of the Buddhist Himalayan region warned officials that they faced a "life or death" struggle that involved the stability of the entire country, as it prepared to host to the Olympic Games in August.
Anti-Chinese protests flared this week across Tibet and in neighbouring provinces where many Tibetans live. In a remote area of Gansu province, hundreds of Tibetans on horseback galloped through a town shouting, "Come back Dalai Lama" and "Free the Panchen Lama", before ripping down a Chinese flag and raising a Tibetan snow lion banner.
In Lhasa, Tibetan mobs turned on ethnic Han Chinese and Hui Muslims last Friday in the worst violence in nearly 20 years. The home-made bomb was thrown at a paramilitary vehicle on Tuesday. Police fired teargas at onlookers and schools were ordered to close early. Residents said that four police were killed or wounded but officials would not comment.
Television in Lhasa broadcast yesterday three lists of 17 people wanted in connection with the riots. Those on the list appeared to be ethnic Tibetans. Grainy images from footage recorded during the violence were shown. One Tibetan official told The Times: "There were many other people but these were the ones whose faces could be clearly seen." All were young and most were in ordinary clothes and not Tibetan costume. The list was issued by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau. One person on the list had already been detained, the Lhasa official said.
A total of 24 people were placed under formal arrest yesterday by the Lhasa Procuratorate Office. Sources close to the Lhasa government said that the number of those detained - although not yet arrested formally - since Saturday was more than 1,000. At least 156 people had surrendered to police, Tibet Television said.
China says that 16 people have been killed, but Tibetan exiles put the number at 99. Zhang Qingli, Tibet's Communist Party leader, blamed the exiled Dalai Lama for the violence. "We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life and death struggle with the Dalai clique," Mr Zhang said. He added that the spiritual leader's followers were bent on separating the Tibetan region from Chinese rule and were seeking to use the period before the Olympics to foment unrest.
The Dalai Lama appealed to world leaders for help in resolving the dispute, and offered to submit to an investigation by those who suspected him of being involved.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080320e43k0003t

Sport

Times men prove to be a knockout at the Oscars of sports journalism; Sport s Journalists' Association awards

Marcus Leroux

523 字

2008 年 3 月 19 日

The Times

T

108

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
Five winners in one year is unprecedented
Samuel completes prestigious hat-trick
The Times dominated this year's Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) awards, scooping five honours. No newspaper has won more awards in a single year. Peter Wilson, the chairman of the judges, said: "To have five winners in one year is a great achievement by The Times, in a year in which there were record entries in all categories."
The nearest competitor on the night was The Sunday Times, which took home three awards.
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent of The Times, was named Sports Writer of the Year for an unprecedented third time in a row. He was awarded the prestigious honour by the SJA after a ballot of sports editors of national newspapers.
One judge said: "He proved that he could still maintain -and indeed surpass the remarkable quality and clarity that has hallmarked his writing and thinking for many years."
Samuel is also a three-time winner of the What The Papers Say Sports Writer of the Year award.
Simon Barnes, Chief Sports Writer of The Times, was named Sports Columnist of the Year. Barnes, another former What The Papers Say Sports Writer of the Year, was lauded by judges for his columns on Zara Phillips, the legacy of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and the historic rugby union match at Croke Park between Ireland and England.
The judges said: "He brings wit and verve to his elegant writing but also challenges and entertains with perceptive insights about the role of sport in society and how people react to it."
Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent of The Times, was named Sports News Reporter of the Year after he exclusively broke the news of Tim Henman's retirement and Andy Murray's split with Brad Gilbert, his coach. The judges praised Harman's ability to unearth "genuine exclusives in a sport not known for them".
Matthew Syed won the award for Feature Writer of the Year, for articles including his remarkable interview with Zhuang Zedong, the Chinese table-tennis hero who was exiled after finding himself at the forefront of the Cultural Revolution, and his examination of the sanitising revisionism surrounding Muhammad Ali.
Syed, who also holds three Commonwealth Games gold medals for men's singles table tennis, was praised for producing articles that did not conform to the mainstream.
"His highly original, investigative journalism throws much new light on world sport, the major players and the everincreasing involvement of high politics and commerce," one judge said.
Marc Aspland, Chief Sports Photographer of The Times, claimed the award for Sports News Picture of the Year for his shot of Ricky Hatton after the British welterweight was floored by a left hook from Floyd Mayweather Jr. Aspland was also highly commended for his overall portfolio.
Other Times journalists to be highly commended were: Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Correspondent, for Interviewer of the Year; Harman for Specialist Correspondent; and Edward Gorman, Motor Racing Correspondent, for Internet Writer.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080319e43j0007r

Sport

Tough regime expected to make Britain's medal hopes fit for purpose in Qingdao;Sailing

Ashling O'Connor, Olympics Correspondent, Palma, Majorca

976 字

2008 年 3 月 19 日

The Times

T

98

‚ń文

(c) 2008 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
Two hours of cycling before breakfast typical
Ainslie says Chinese venue is 'a nightmare'
British sailors competing in the Beijing Olympic Games this summer are aiming to lose on average a tenth of their natural body weight to counter the light winds expected at the sailing venue in Qingdao.
Members of the team are on a low-fat, high-protein diet and a strict exercise regime that includes two hours of cycling before breakfast to burn off excess body fat before the Games in August.
They are expecting to lose 2-8kg each. "We are looking to have our skinniest team ever," Pete Cunningham, the nutritionist, said.
Managers from the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) will also equip athletes with lighter clothing and sail cloth as part of a strategy to tackle the summer conditions on the northeast coast of China: light winds, strong currents and enduring fog. "The average wind speed at that time of year is six knots and at last year's test event it was less than four knots," Stephen Park, the Olympic team manager, said. "The tide can run at up to two knots. So you can't be lardy or you won't go anywhere."
Before the Princess Sophia regatta this week off Palma, where the conditions are similar to those forecast for Qingdao, the Great Britain team's training routine is in full tilt. Paul Goodison, who has been selected to race in the Laser class, is barely holding up his shorts on his lean frame but says that he has nearly 10kg to shed before Beijing. After two hours on his bike before a bowl of cereal, he is starving. "I had a bit more weight to lose than normal because I was out with a broken wrist," he said.
Bryony Shaw, who is competing in the women's windsurfing event, is also spending a lot of time cycling to lose weight and maintain fitness. "I would like to get down below 57kg, but it is difficult because you need your energy levels to be high as it's a very physical event," she said. "During the Games it will be porridge for breakfast and salads in the evening."
The sailors have individually tailored diets, comprising fruit, oats, soya, pasta, meat and vegetables, which will be served up in Beijing by an in-house chef. "There are three aims: to reduce body mass while preserving lean tissue, maintain health and maintain energy levels," Nathan Lewis, the team's physiologist, said. The team may import their own food because of concerns about meat quality in China. "We were told not to eat the chickens because they whack them full of steroids," Cunningham said.
Last year, Chinese customs officials confiscated Pounds 8,000 of meteorological equipment after accusing the team of conducting "illegal" weather tests. Park was not even allowed to take his bike into the country. The team will, however, be taking 12,000 bottles of a specially formulated rehydration sports drink -high in electrolytes -to deal with humidity in Qingdao of nearly 100 per cent. Each sailor drinks five to six litres a day.
The weather is the main challenge for the sailors. The team that won five medals at the Athens Games in 2004 are Britain's most successful. Ben Ainslie, who is going for his third Olympic gold medal, has described the Chinese venue as a "sailor's nightmare", despite winning both his test events.
The hope is that there is enough wind to produce a credible series, particularly because the RYA believes that it is fielding its strongest team ever, with nine medal hopes in 11 Olympic classes. "As long as they get the majority of races -eight or nine the likelihood is that the best sailors will be top of their field," Park said. "If they only get in two or three races, you could end up with some results that look very different. It could even come down to one race."
Besides matters beyond their control, Britain are also the best-prepared sailing team -one described by Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, as the "Formula One" of British Olympic sports.
Increased lottery funding of Pounds 1.6 million a year and sponsorship of Pounds 1 million from Skandia, a long-term savings company, means that it can support a backroom staff of more than 40 -from a meteorologist to a physiotherapist -all working to narrow the margins for error.
A ruthless selection policy further means that only the best medal hopes are sent to the Games, where only one individual or team of sailors can represent their country in each class. Britain has world-class talent to spare, meaning that seasoned Olympians such as Shirley Robertson and world champions such as Nic Asher and Elliot Willis will be absent from the start line in Qingdao.
Other British sports can only watch with envy as the "friendly competition" in sailing drives results. "We are blessed with a depth of talent," Ainslie, who is considered the best sailor of his generation, said. "Part of that comes from funding, the rest comes from just doing all the little things right. We have a strong team culture and a huge amount of experience. Success breeds success and no one wants to be the odd one out."
OLYMPIC GAINS
Ben Ainslie (Finn): Aiming for third successive gold medal.
Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (Yngling): This new combination won gold in Olympic test event in Qingdao last year.
Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (470): Won silver at test event.
Bryony Shaw (RS:X): Britain's No 1 in windsurfing class, making its Olympic debut this summer.
(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2008
文件 T000000020080319e43j0006l

Sport