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RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - JamisBanda - 10-27-2020

Christian Coleman banned for two years for missing drugs test


[Image: _115093935_christian_coleman_getty2.jpg]

World 100m champion Christian Coleman has been banned for two years after missing three drugs tests.

The 24-year-old American, who is suspended from 14 May 2020, will miss the postponed Tokyo Olympics next summer.
Coleman won 100m gold at the World Championships in Doha in 2019.
The indoor 60m world record holder has 30 days to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
He was provisionally suspended in June after missing a third test in December 2019.
Three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period can result in a ban of up to two years
Coleman did not contest his first missed test on 16 January 2019 but disputed his filing failure on 26 April 2019 and whereabouts failure on 9 December.
The investigation into his rule violations said there was no suggestion he had ever taken a prohibited substance.
According to the Athletics Integrity Unit's (AIU) out-of-competition testing guidelines, athletes are accountable for missed tests if they are not at their specified location for the one-hour period they have stated. The tester must wait for the full 60 minutes before leaving.
Coleman said he was Christmas shopping "five minutes away" from home, and that the tester made no effort to contact him during his third whereabouts failure.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/54712149


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 11-12-2020

Chinthana not ready to throw in the towel yet

[Image: weight.jpg]

by Reemus Fernando

It is 14 years since he first rose to fame winning an unprecedented gold in weightlifting at international level. Chinthana Vidanage who inspired a generation of athletes to take up weightlifting with his Commonwealth Games gold in Australia is not ready to throw in the towel yet.

Vidanage whose highest international success have been achieved at the Commonwealth Games said in an interview with The Island that his long-term plans run at least until 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“I have the 2022 Commonwealth Games in my long term plan. I can’t stop the initiatives I have taken without supporting as many as I could to take up this sport,” Vidanage said.

Vidanage who last enjoyed international success at the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal was a member of the weightlifting team that competed at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where he finished fifth.

“Last year when I established two national records in the 81kg category I proved that I still have the ability to win at Commonwealth Games level. The Covid 19 pandemic has prevented me from accessing my current strength,” said Vidanage who will be 40 when he competes at the 2022 Birmingham Games.

“I consider it my responsibility to continue in this sport for as long as I can. Many Olympians have given up on their sport too early. An Olympian has a wealth of experience that he can give back to fellow athletes who are eager to achieve that top level. Take for example Manjula Kumara (high jump national record holder). He competed for many years. An Olympian like Manjula Kumara could have been an inspiration to many had he been here to guide budding athletes. At the time Manjula gave up athletics he was in his mid 30s. The younger generation even today are struggling to accomplish what he achieved nearly a decade ago. It is not totally about winning. It’s about what you can give back to the next generation of athletes for that particular sport to survive,” said the sailor of his contemporary who competed for nearly two decades as the country’s top high jumper.

Asked whether he has faith in the country’s sports authorities to obtain the knowledge of such Olympians for the betterment of the sport he said: “The Sports Minister himself is a sportsman and I firmly believe that he would take necessary steps to engage the services of veteran sportsmen and help top level athletes who are keen on continuing”

Commenting on the contribution he has made towards his sport as a veteran he said he was able to inspire many both during competition and training. “If you take top weightlifters who are doing well now I can be happy about the contribution I have made. If you take Indika Dissanayake and Palangasinghe, they all trained with me. You can not only give instructions on techniques when you have young people training with you but also one can help them on how to think like a champion.”

Asked for his comments on the impact the Covid 19 pandemic had on his training and preparation he said: “I don’t think that the Covid 19 pandemic had a big impact on training of the top level weightlifters. I did not stop training. I trained according to a plan where I could peak at any given time. In my training plan I don’t have an off season. If you relax you cannot achieve your targets. All top level athletes are training as hard as they can. What we greatly missed was competitions. In the economic front there are problems to many who are not coming under Sports Ministry’s supervision.”

https://island.lk/chinthana-not-ready-to-throw-in-the-towel-yet/


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 12-09-2020

Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie has set a new world record for the half marathon in a race where the top four finishers all beat the previous record in Valencia.

Kandie took 29 seconds off the mark, set by compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in Copenhagen last year, to complete the 13.1 miles in 57 minutes 32 seconds.

The 24-year-old won by five seconds from Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo.

Rhonex Kipruto was third, 17 seconds down, with fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso fourth at 27 seconds back.

In the women's race, Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba won by 21 seconds with a time of 1:05:18, with Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui second and Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia third.

On Sunday, World Athletics also amended its rules to allow prototype shoes to be used again in races except at those in the Olympics or World Athletics series.

In January, athletics' world governing body had ruled that any new shoe technology developed after 30 April would have to be available on the open market for four months before anyone can use it in competition.

There is a ban on any shoes that have a sole thicker than 40mm.

Kandie was using Adidas shoes that have 39mm of foam.

His record is the latest in a run of world records in recent months, which have mainly been broken by athletes wearing Nike shoes.


Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei smashed the men's 10,000m world record and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey set a new benchmark in the women's 5,000m in Valencia in October.

Britain's Mo Farah and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands broke the men's and women's one-hour records respectively in Brussels in September.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/55206158


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 12-23-2020

Why does Japan insist on holding the Olympics?

Holding the postponed 2020 Olympics next July — as Japan appears determined to do — is crazy. Kudos to Michael Phelps for stating the obvious: “The fact that you’re going to put ten thousand plus athletes, plus all the volunteers, plus all the coaches, it doesn’t make sense to me. I just don’t see how it can happen.” This peerless Olympian also said he was astonished officials waited so long to delay the Games earlier this year as the pandemic swept across the globe.

More


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 12-30-2020

Shanika breaks lockdown shackles to erase 35 year old athletics record
https://island.lk/shanika-breaks-lockdown-shackles-to-erase-35-year-old-athletics-record/


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 01-01-2021

2021 sporting calendar: Euro 2020, Olympics and other big events to follow
https://www.bbc.com/sport/55261229


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 01-18-2021

‘One Mile Challenge,’ a road running event, is among a series of talent identification competitions which is set to attract the interests of track enthusiasts when the Sports Ministry and its affiliate the Department of Sports Development launch a new initiative ‘Pubudamu Kreeda Tharu’.

‘Pubudamu Kreeda Tharu’ is a competition based talent identifying initiative which will be conducted in each district. The programme is aimed at identifying and developing talent for various sports.

“This programme is the brain child of the Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa. The programme will help identify talented athletes who will be given special training to groom them for various sports,” said project officer Jayantha Siyamudali of the Department of Sports Development in an interview with The Island.

“Competitions to identify talent will be held in each district. With cash rewards awarded to winners we expect big participation,” said Siyamudali who will steer the programme with the support of fellow committee members Rukmal Wijeratne, Chaminda Jayawardena and Lakmini Samarasinghe.

“We will conduct the initial technical workshop on January 26 and 27 to finalize the programme and we are looking forward to commence it in March,” he said.

The new programme will be held in stages with the winners of each district advancing to a national competition. It will also be contested in Under-20 and over 20 age categories.

“Coordination and agility, strength and power, speed and strength, strength and balance and endurance are the key physical attributes which will be put to test.”

The ‘One Mile Challenge’ will be contested as a road event and the organizers are looking forward to use the experience they had gained when they conducted such events in Badulla in 2019.

A pro agility competition, a both leg jump competition, standing javelin throw or a cricket ball throw, standing on one leg and the one mile challenge are the disciplines that will be contested at the Pubudamu Kreeda Tharu competitions.

“Both leg jumps will help identify the leg power which is vital for various sports. We will train such athletes selected from this programme for suitable sports.”

Except the One Mile Challenge, other events will be contested at sports stadiums.

A pool of nearly 80 athletes will be selected from each district and they will be given special training at Provincial level. A final national level pool will be selected after the national competition. The winners of the national competition too will be presented with cash awards.

https://island.lk/one-mile-challenge-among-top-attractions-in-sports-ministrys-new-initiative/


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - JamisBanda - 01-22-2021

Tokyo 2020 Games may have to be held behind closed doors, says Lord Coe

The rescheduled Tokyo Games may have to be held behind closed doors if they are to go ahead in Japan this year, athletics chief Lord Coe has admitted.
The World Athletics president remained confident the Olympics and Paralympics would take place despite a Times report suggesting they would be cancelled.
"I would love to have fans, noisy and passionate," Coe told the BBC.
"But if the only way we're able to deliver it is behind closed doors, I think everybody is accepting of that."
Coe, who headed the London 2012 organising committee and is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, said, in the event of a cancellation, it was "not a realistic solution" to push back Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 in order for Tokyo to host the Olympics in three years' time.

Last March, organisers decided to postpone the 2020 Games for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, doubts over whether they would happen at all increased in recent weeks following a rise in cases in some countries, including Japan where a state of emergency was declared in Tokyo.
A report in Friday's Times newspaper quoted a senior member of the ruling coalition, who said the events would be cancelled.
In response to that article, Tokyo 2020 organisers released a statement declaring that Japan's prime minister Yoshihide Suga had "expressed his determination" to hold the Olympics and Paralympics and that all stakeholders remained focused on delivering the event. The IOC said the suggestion of a cancellation was "categorically untrue".
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said that "with the robust measures and plans we have in place, the Games can and will go ahead safely". The Olympics are due to start on 23 July followed by the Paralympics on 24 August.
Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto said a global rollout of Covid-19 vaccines could be a key factor in allowing the Games to be staged.
"Once vaccinations are conducted widely in the US and Europe, I think there is no doubt that it will have a positive effect [on the Games]," he said on Friday.
"However, it doesn't solve everything. We are hopeful about the vaccines, but at the same time, I think it is inappropriate to be totally dependent on it."
Lord Coe added: "It's a challenge - it'll be delusional not to believe that.
"There are two really big differences between this time last year and where we are today. One is the vaccine, and that will be rolled out quite dramatically over the next few months. We are still six months away from the Games.
"And in our own sport, the athletes still have access to their training facilities and are still competing."
'The noise doesn't help the athletes'
Andy Anson, British Olympic Association chief, told BBC Radio 5 Live that there was "no plan B" and that he had been told the Games would go ahead as planned.
He added: "The noise doesn't help... it doesn't help the athletes.
"They need to focus on preparing for the Games. We're hearing consistently from the IOC and Tokyo they are going ahead - it's just a question of how."

'Times story not first to cast doubt'
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC's Tokyo correspondent
The Tokyo Olympics will go ahead as planned - so says the Japanese government. It says Friday's newspaper report contains no truth.
Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo, has gone further - suggesting she might lodge a formal complaint against the Times - and Thomas Bach, the head of the IOC, has also chimed in, although his denial was slightly more equivocal.
Friday's story is not the first to cast doubt on the rescheduled Tokyo Games. Last week a senior government minister was forced to correct himself after saying a decision on the Games could go either way. And with new Covid-19 cases in Japan running at over 5,000 a day, public opinion here is solidly against holding the Games this year.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/55762303


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - JamisBanda - 01-22-2021

More likely that's what's going to happen, can't see how they can get packed fans by summer, I think situation in Japan has gotten worse in last few weeks.


RE: Sports News/Videos Thread - Bada - 01-23-2021

Go to the link for pics

Quote:Good Hope International College students Bassam and Maryam bring glory to Sri Lanka in Muay Thai

Bassam Murthaza, an eight-year-old kid of Good Hope International College in Mawanella and his elder sister Maryam, 13, are making waves in the sport of Muay Thai or ‘Thai boxing’ which has received provisional recognition as an Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee.

A combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques, this discipline is known as the ‘art of eight limbs’ as it is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins.

Bassam and Maryam were among several medal winners for Sri Lanka at the IFMA Virtual Muaythai World Championship 2020 and the UTS – World Youth Festival 2020.

Sri Lanka athletes were able to secure two gold medals, one silver medal and three bronze medals at the United Through Sports (UTS) World Youth Festival 2020 which was organised under the patronage of IOC International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Special Olympics, AIMS, Sport Accord and GAISF. More than 80 sport organisations from all around the world participated for this competition. Sri Lankan athletes represented IFMA (International Federation of Muay Thai Associations) in this competition.

Products of the Iron Martial Arts Muay Thai Club, Bassam won two silver medals at the IFMA Virtual Muaythai World Championship in the Max Fit / J10 Male Youth and Aero Fit / J10 Coed Youth pairing with Mohamed Fahid Ishak. He won a gold medal at the UTS World Youth Festival in the Max Fit Under-10 Male and bronze medal pairing with Fahid Ishak in the Aero Fit Under-10 category. Maryam paired with Nethmini Chamathya Katupitiya in the Aero Fit (aerobic) event to clinch a silver medal at the IFMA Virtual Muaythai World Championship in the Aero Fit / J14 Coed Youth and bronze medal at the UTS World Youth Festival in the Aero Fit Under-14 category.

It was Bassam who showed an interest in this traditional martial art at the tender age of three prompting his father Murthaza Sadak Ali to take him along for Muay Thai practices when he was at Director of Madina International College in Geli Oya.

There he came under the wing of coach M.H.M. Fahid, a former Central Province boxing champion, who has been coaching since 2009. A NVQ4 qualified Physical Training Instructor from NISS (National Institute of Sports Science), Fahad’s club clinched the Youth championship at last year’s Muay Thai Nationals winning 76 medals.

“Since he was interested in kick boxing I sent him for training wondering whether he could do it or not. After six months he picked up the martial art of Thai boxing and performed shows at the National Muay Thai Championships,” said his father proudly.

“In fact Dr. Chao Wathayotha, a Muay Thai Grandmaster from Thailand was so impressed with his performance and presented him a souvenir,” he added.

Bassam gained international recognition after IFMA saw some of the videos on his Youtube channel Bassam Murthasa Young Hero.

“He has a Facebook page as well and has uploaded some 50 videos. He is not only good in martial arts but a good orator as well,” said Murthaza, an English language teacher by profession. Even IFMA sought his permission to publish Bassam’s videos made when he was just six on their page.

“I feel good after winning a gold medal. I was confident of winning. I am not scared of fighting. I like to play football. English is my favourite subject,” said Bassam, the Grade 3 student of Good Hope International College who dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Inspired by Bassam, Maryam started following his training at home and showed an interest in the art of Muay Thai about three years ago.

“She started going for practices in 2017. She was the only girl in the class then but now there are 10 or 15 girls,” said Murthaza. Maryam participated in ring fights at the 2019 National Muay Thai Championship winning a bronze medal in the Under-11 30kg and gold medal in the Under-12 30kg category. She also took part in the shadow boxing event.

“I like Muay Thai and am not scared of fighting,” said the hijab-clad boxer, a Grade 8 student of Good Hope International College whose ambition is to be a teacher like her father and become a Muay Thai world champion.

Murthaza’s youngest kid six-year-old Imad is also following in the footsteps of his siblings and has started practicing Muay Thai. “I also like football and swimming,” said Imad.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/210124/sports/good-hope-international-college-students-bassam-and-maryam-bring-glory-to-sri-lanka-in-muay-thai-429301.html