IN BRIEF (Page 11)
MISCELLANEOUS
Bolts edges Phelps
BRUSSELS, Belgium: In a clash of Olympic stars, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt edged US swimmer Michael Phelps to be voted the 2008 athlete of the year by the international media.
Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva took the top place as sportswoman of the year and the only honor to buck the Olympic trend went to Spain's soccer squad, which was voted team of the year after winning the European Championship.
In a poll by the International Sports Press Association, journalists from 96 nations gave Bolt a narrow edge of 1,673 points to 1,557 over Phelps. Bolt won a three gold medals, setting world records in the 100m, 200m and 400m relay to become the star of Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium. In the Water Cube, Phelps was the outstanding star with a history-making eight golds in the pool for the United States.
In the wake of his thrilling victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, Spain's Rafael Nadal came third with 444 points, edging Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo with 401 points and new Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton with 275.
Soccer
Fuller, Griffin friends again
LONDON: Stoke City players Ricardo Fuller and Andy Griffin, involved in an on-pitch row that ended with Fuller being sent off, have "kissed and made up" after a team meeting, manager Tony Pulis said on Thursday.
Jamaica striker Fuller was sent off after he slapped Griffin, the club captain, as they argued following the concession of an equaliser to West Ham United in last week's Premier League game, eventually won 2-1 by the Londoners.
On Wednesday Fuller said Griffin had been "very rude and disrespectful", but accepted that his actions had been worse. Pulis said the whole squad had got together for a meeting on Wednesday and cleared the air.
Athletics
Xiamen Marathon kicks off
XIAMEN: The 7th Xiamen International Marathon will hit the road today, with more than 30,000 runners from across the globe taking part.
The event has attracted 23 top foreign marathoners, including Kenei Kiprotich from Kenya, the men's defending champion, and two runners from the Beijing Olympic Games, Alexsey Sokolov from Russia and Simon Munyutu from France.
The Holy Fire, a symbolic flame of the Marathon Spirit, will be delivered at the beginning of the opening ceremony by the mayor of the Greek city of Marathon, Spyridon N. Zagaris, who attended the International Forum of Mayors of Marathon Host Cities and signed the agreement on the establishment of sister cities relationship between Xiamen and Marathon.
"This game is of greater significance than last year's since it is the 2,500th anniversary of the first marathon and the Island Ring Road is the most scenic race track in the world," said Zagaris.
Skiing
Loitzl triumphs at last
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany: Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria captured his first World Cup victory on Thursday by winning the second leg of the prestigious Four Hills ski jumping tournament.
Loitzl, who finished second in the first leg in Oberstdorf on Monday, had jumps of 134.5 and 136.5m in the annual New Year's Day meet for a total of 276.3 points. Overall World Cup leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second with 274.6 points after jumps of 140 and 134.5m.
"This is like Easter and Christmas together," said Loitzl, who turns 29 on Jan 13 but had never won an individual World Cup event despite nine podium finishes since 2001. "The second jump was great and I got some good values from the judges."
(China Daily 01/03/2009 page11)