Digest

OLYMPICS

Lyu to receive Rio gold as Rahimov loses title

Lyu Xiaojun

China's Lyu Xiaojun is expected to claim a third Olympic weightlifting gold medal after 2016 Rio Olympic title winner Nijat Rahimov of Kazakhstan was stripped of his result due to a doping violation.

This means that Lyu, who finished second in the competition, will be promoted to first place, adding to his gold medals from London 2012 and Tokyo 2020.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday announced that Rahimov, the men's 77 kilogram winner at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, would be banned for eight years from Jan 18, 2021.

All Rahimov's competitive results between March 15, 2016 and Jan 18,2021 are disqualified, including his men's 77 kg gold medal at Rio 2016.CAS said Rahimov was found to have swapped his urine samples on four occasions.

Last year, the International Testing Agency charged him with urine substitution, which "would have occurred over a period of time in 2016".

Valieva to skate in Russian competition

Kamila Valieva

The teenage Russian figure skater at the center of a doping scandal at last month's Beijing Olympics will skate in a competition this week in Russia.

Kamila Valieva, who won Olympic gold in the team competition before finding out that she tested positive for a banned substance before the Beijing Games began, will skate in an exhibition tournament in Russia starting Friday.

The 15-year-old Valieva was allowed to compete in the singles competition at the Olympics despite her positive test in part because of her status as a minor. She finished fourth. But since the Olympics ended, Russian athletes have been banned from international competition following their country's conflict with Ukraine.

The team event in Russia will take place in Saransk at the same time as the top figure skaters compete in the world championships in France.

TENNIS

Becker tried to 'pay debt with wedding ring'

Boris Becker

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker offered up his wedding ring as he tried to pay off his debts, a London court heard on Wednesday on the third day of the German's trial on charges relating to his bankruptcy.

The six-time Grand Slam champion, 54, also wanted to sell his 10 million euro ($11 million) estate in Mallorca, Spain, in a bid to overturn his bankruptcy, a jury was told.

The former world No 1 is accused of hiding or failing to hand over assets, including two of his three Wimbledon men's singles titles and his 1992 Olympic gold medal.

Becker was declared bankrupt in June 2017, owing private bank Arbuthnot Latham more than 3 million pounds ($4 million) for a loan on a Balearic island property known as the Finca.

Becker, who won 49 singles titles during his 16-year playing career, denies all the charges against him.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Fournette inks $21m deal with Buccaneers

Leonard Fournette

Piece by piece, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reassembling an impressive array of playmakers around Tom Brady.

Free-agent running back Leonard Fournette finalized a three-year, $21 million contract with the team Wednesday, joining receivers Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman, Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen and guard Aaron Stinnie as key offensive players who've agreed to new deals since Brady ended his brief retirement this month.

Fournette, 27, joined the Bucs after being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020 and helped Brady win his seventh Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa Bay.

The No 4 overall pick from the 2017 NFL draft is coming off one of the best all-around seasons of his career after rushing for 812 yards (742 meters) and eight touchdowns and finishing with 69 receptions for 454 yards and two TDs in 2021.

BASEBALL

Yanks' female manager sidelined by ball strike

Rachel Balkovec, hired by the New York Yankees as the first woman to manage a minor-league affiliate of a Major League Baseball team, was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill and will be sidelined for up to a week.

Balkovec was struck Tuesday. She will not be available for her first scheduled spring training game Thursday with Class A Tampa.

The 34-year-old Balkovec didn't sustain a concussion but has facial swelling, the Yankees said Wednesday. She was involved in a hitting drill in an indoor cage at the minor-league complex when she was hurt.

Balkovec has been instructed by team doctors to rest for the next five to seven days. She will be reexamined after the swelling goes down.

Xinhua - Agencies