TOKYO: Japanese judo queen Ryoko Tani is to give up her bid
TOKYO: Japanese judo queen Ryoko Tani is to give up her bid for a record-stretching seventh straight world title to have a baby, she said on Monday.
The 29-year-old double Olympic champion, who is married to Japanese baseball player Yoshitomo Tani, had been favorite to extend her winning run in Cairo in September before announcing the pregnancy.
She had already qualified for the world championships by winning the national trials, even with an injured hand.
The world bantamweight champion retained her Olympic gold in the under 48 kilogram category last August. -- AFP Phelps wins hat trick in world swim tuneup
SANTA CLARA, California: Olympic swim hero Michael Phelps won his third title in as many days at the Santa Clara Invitational, taking the 200m individual medley in 1 min, 59.31 secs on Sunday.
Barely half an hour after a third-place effort in the 100m freestyle, Phelps won the 200 IM by 3.06 seconds over Ryan Lochte, although Phelps' time was well off his world record of 1:55.94 set in August 2003.
Six-time Olympic champion Phelps, 19, won the 200 freestyle Friday and the 100 butterfly Saturday and used the final day of the last tuneup meet for next month's World Championships in Montreal to test his endurance and speed. -- AFP Injury scare hits Powell
KINGSTON, Jamaica: World 100 meters record-holder Asafa Powell is fighting off an injury scare after winning the Jamaican 100 meters athletics crown here on Saturday and booking a berth at August's World Championships in Helsinki.
Powell won the sprint title in 10.04 seconds but pulled up after the race and fell to the ground, shocking a crowd celebrating his first meet since setting the world record of 9.77 seconds on June 14 at Athens.
After a few seconds, Powell slowly rose and was aided by coach Stephen Francis in walking off the track.
"It hurt a lot," said Powell, clutching his right thigh. "It's really painful. I don't know what happened but I will be getting some treatment and hopefully everything will be all right."
-- AFP
Ex IOC member Kim to be paroled
SEOUL: South Korea will parole former International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Kim Un-yong this week, a year after he was found guilty of corruption, a justice ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Long one of the most powerful figures in the Olympic movement, Kim was sentenced last June to two years in prison for embezzling some 3.3 billion won (US$3.26 million) and accepting 788 million won in kickbacks while serving as the head of international sports organizations.
The sentence was later reduced to two years on appeal.
"The decision on parole was based on a thorough review of the case, taking into consideration factors such as age and health," the spokesman said by telephone.
He said Kim, 74, would be paroled on June 30 because of health and other concerns
The IOC's decision-making executive board agreed this year with an ethics commission report that Kim had "seriously tarnished the reputation of the Olympic movement". Kim has always denied the charges against him. -- Reuters