Canada’s best 400-metre runner crosses finish line

By John MacKinnon, Postmedia News June 18, 2011 12:41 AM

 

 

 

Tyler Christopher, Canada’s fastest ever 400-metre runner, has retired from track and field, Athletics Canada announced June 17, 2011.

Photograph by: Peter J. Thompson, National Post

EDMONTON — Tyler Christopher, Canada’s fastest ever 400-metre runner, has retired from track and field.

The 27-year-old Edmonton-based sprinter established himself as one of the best in his event when he finished a surprising third at the world championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005. His time that day, 44.44 seconds, remains the Canadian outdoor record.

He also won the world indoor 400-metre title in 2008 and represented Canada at the Summer Olympics in Beijing that same year. Disappointingly, he did not advance out of the heats in Beijing.

Christopher had not competed since the national championships in 2009.

“I stopped because it’s a business. It was a business for me and when the business isn’t performing very well or doing much of a profit, then you shut it down,” Christopher said. “It was just time.

“I went back and forth a lot of times with the decision and I’m happy with it.”

For the past two years, Christopher has been running his own landscaping business in Edmonton.

In 2007, Christopher won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in a controversial race. Convinced he had false started, Christopher trotted to a near standstill out of the starting blocks, only to watch his competitors zoom past, leaving him behind.

Christopher bolted from dead last to overtake every runner but the winner, Chris Brown of Bahamas. He then booted a lane marker, pushed an official aside as he left the track, stormed through the interview area and complained about the shoddy start.

His passion crossed the line that night, but his burst of speed was extraordinary, a display of the talent that, under coach Kevin Tyler, Christopher harnessed to become one of the top sprinters in the world.

For a time, Christopher was among the contenders for the podium in every race he entered, a considerable feat in an event dominated by American sprinters, and U.S. star Jeremy Wariner, in particular.

“Tyler had many great races and was among the top six in the world from 2005 to 2008, challenging the best in the world in every outing,” said Alex Gardiner, Athletics Canada’s Olympic program head coach. “On every national team he was a part of, Tyler’s exuberant confidence spilled over to his teammates.

“For six hard years, he trained and competed all over the world in an event considered by most as the ultimate test in pain threshold. We’re going to miss his style, his bravado and the flash of his smile as he crossed the finish line.”

Christopher will be honoured next Saturday as part of Athletics Canada’s awards & Hall of Fame induction banquet in Calgary, site of the 2011 Canadian track and field championships from June 22-25.

A four-time Canadian 400-metre champion, Christopher retires as the Canadian record holder in the indoor and outdoor 400 metres, the indoor 300 metres and as a member of the 4x200-metre relay team.

In 2005, Christopher was named Athletics Canada’s recipient of both the Jack Davies Trophy as the outstanding overall athlete and the Phil Edwards Trophy as the top athlete in track events.

Edmonton Journal

jmackinnon@edmontonjournal.com

Rubio set to join Wolves next season

 

Sports Network June 17, 2011

 

 

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Barcelona's basketball player Ricky Rubio of Spain leaves a news conference at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona June 17, 2011. After pulling out of a move to the NBA two years ago, highly-rated Spanish point guard Rubio has decided to leave Barcelona to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves next season.

Photograph by: Albert Gea, Reuters

Barcelona, Spain (Sports Network) - Ricky Rubio has announced that he will join the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2011-12 season.

The 20-year-old flashy Spanish point guard made the announcement Friday in Spain. He was selected by the Timberwolves with the fifth overall pick of the 2009 draft, but at age 18 decided to remain at home to play for Regal Barcelona.

Minnesota said Friday that Rubio will be introduced at a press conference in the Twin Cities on Tuesday. Terms of the multi-year deal were not disclosed.

"This is a day our organization and our fans have been eagerly awaiting from the moment we drafted him, and I couldn't be more pleased to welcome Ricky to Minnesota," said Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn in a statement Friday. "Ricky's skill set and feel for the game have made him one of the best young players in Europe for six years now, and at age 20 he's still a young player with a lot of upside. I expect Ricky to enjoy a long and successful career here in Minnesota."

Rubio, who first turned professional at age 14 and was in the Olympics in 2008, averaged 4.8 points and 4.1 assists per game this season for Barcelona, which claimed the Spanish league title.

After the 2009 draft, Minnesota had an agreement in place with Rubio's former team, DKV Joventut, on a buyout package that would have enabled him to play for the Wolves. However, Rubio decided to stay home and play for Barcelona, which also made an offer to buy out the Joventut contract.

In his two seasons with Barcelona, Rubio averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 assists in 65 games. He also averaged 7.7 points and 3.6 assists in four seasons with DKV Joventut.

The Wolves were just 17-65 last season and will have the second pick in the NBA Draft later this month.

Record-setters to face off again at Wimbledon

By Stephanie Myles, Postmedia News June 17, 2011

 

 

John Isner of the U.S. celebrates defeating France's Nicolas Mahut in their resumed match at the 2010 Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 24, 2010.

Photograph by: Suzanne Plunkett, Reuters

LONDON — There was roughly a 1-in-141 chance of it happening. The law of the tennis draw made it so.

John Isner of the United States and Nicolas Mahut of France, who in the first round a year ago collaborated on the longest match in tennis history, will meet again in the first round of the Wimbledon men’s singles draw.

“It’s going to be pretty nuts,” Isner told reporters Friday. “I couldn’t believe it. I joked with him earlier in the week, last week, and said, ‘Watch us play each other.’ And he said, ‘No, there’s no way. That’s not even funny.’ ”

The matchup between the two unseeded players, whose names adorn a new plaque on the outside wall of Court 18 — the site of a marathon that lasted more than three days and ended 70-68 in the fifth set — overshadowed the results of the men’s and singles draws made at the All-England Club on Friday.

Otherwise, full attention would have been focused on whether longtime Wimbledon rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ended up in the same half of the men’s draw, and on where the returning Venus and Serena Williams would be placed to wreak havoc in the women’s draw.

As it turned out, the men’s potential final four fell just as it did at the French Open two weeks ago: No. 2 Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic in one half; top seed Nadal and No. 4 Andy Murray in the other half.

Nadal’s road is hardly easy.

He could meet Canadian Milos Raonic in the third round and Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the round of 16.

In the first round of his very first Wimbledon as a professional, Raonic drew the dramatic Italian Fabio Fognini, who was forced to withdraw from his scheduled French Open quarter-final with Djokovic because of a thigh injury.

The other Canadian straight into the main draw, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino, will play unseeded Austrian Patricia Mayr Achleitner in the first round.

As for the Williams sisters, they ended up in opposite halves of the women’s draw. As they try to make it into the second week, the building storyline will be whether — after a year of total inactivity for Serena and near-inactivity for Venus — they could somehow end up facing each other in yet another Wimbledon championship final.

Serena, seeded No. 7, could face 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli (No. 9) in the fourth round, and French Open champion Li Na (the No. 3 seed) in the quarter-finals.

She will play Aravane Rezai of France in the first round.

Venus, seeded No. 23, plays big-serving Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in the first round. She could see former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic (seeded No. 15) in the third round and 2010 finalist Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round.

Djokovic has a tough customer in the first round in talented Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Federer drew Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and could face another of the dangerous lower seeds, No. 28 David Nalbandian of Argentina, in the third round.

Andy Murray, Britain’s best hope at a major, was drawn in the same quarter as No. 8 seed Andy Roddick, a finalist here in 2009.

Isner and Mahut, two players from different countries who had little in common before last year’s epic, have bonded in the year since they made history.

Mahut even collaborated on a book released in France during the French Open entitled “Le match de ma vie” (The match of my life).

The two text regularly, their families have met each other, and they even had scheduled a practice together Saturday. They cancelled it.

Whether Tuesday’s rematch will be in a bigger venue commensurate with what is sure to be major interest, or will return to the scene of the crime — so to speak — on Court 18, is up to the schedulers at the All-England Club.

Mahut had a much tougher go of things in the aftermath of that match, saying later that he fell into a depression that lasted about three months. He also has some serious issues with tendinitis in his knees at the moment.

So a repeat of last year’s never-ending drama would have even longer odds than the fluke of the two drawing each other again in the first place.

“We might do dinner (afterward),” Isner said. “We’re really good friends now, but obviously we both want to win. But we’re going to enjoy it and laugh at it at the same time.”

Montreal Gazette

smylesmontreal@gazette.com

Record pace has McIlroy chasing down U.S. Open title

Agence France-Presse June 17, 2011

 

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland watches his tee shot on the eighteenth hole during the second round of the 111th US Open at Congressional Country Club on June 17, 2011, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Photograph by: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

BETHESDA, Maryland — Rory McIlroy completed the lowest 36-hole total in U.S. Open history on Friday despite a double-bogey finish that brought back memories of similar major leads the Ulsterman has squandered.

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland fired a five-under par 66 to stand on 11-under 131 after two rounds at Congressional Country Club, firing five birdies and an eagle before finding water at 18 to settle for an eight-shot lead late in the second round.

"It would have been great to get up and down for bogey. But you can’t dwell on it," McIlroy said. "I played 35 very good holes and that’s what I need to focus on."

The Irish prodigy broke the old U.S. Open 36-hole mark of 132 set in 2009 by American Ricky Barnes, but had he closed with a par he would have broken the 36-hole major record of 130 by Nick Faldo at the 1992 British Open.

"It has been very, very good," McIlroy said. "It’s very nearly the best I can play."

But McIlroy, a contender for the fourth major in a row, has been down this path before and been found wanting.

McIlroy opened with a 65 to co-lead the Masters in April, led by four after 54 holes and by one with nine to play before a back-nine fade to an 80. He led last year’s British Open after a 63 but had an 80 in a windswept round two.

"I took a few things away from the Masters that I felt I could incorporate into my game and I said we’ll find out how they go when I get myself into that position again," McIlroy said.

"We’ll see how it goes over the next couple of days. It’s a big challenge. Every time I keep myself leading in majors, I’m getting more and more comfortable.

"You are going to be comfortable when you are hitting great shots."

South Korean Yang Yong-Eun birdied the par-3 seventh and par-5 ninth to reach five-under, six back of McIlroy, when play was halted by lightning for 42 minutes.

Yang returned at the 10th tee and found a bunker off the tee but salvaged a par to sustain his momentum.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Americans Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Robert Garrigus shared third in the clubhouse on 140, nine adrift of McIlroy.

"If he keeps playing the way he’s playing, we’re all playing for second," Snedeker said.

On the Canadian front, Calgary’s Wes Heffernan is likely to play on through the weekend after a two-round total of 146 (4-over-par). Heffernan was even-par on Friday. Play was halted for the day after dangerous weather moved into the area late in the evening. Seven groups still need to finish the second round and the projected cut was 4-over.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was on the 18th hole when the weather moved in and sits at 5-over. Canada’s other entry, Oshawa Ont.’s Jon Mills finished at 7-over and his U.S. Open is over.

Mills was 2-over in the second round.

No American holds a major title and if none wins this week, it will mark the longest run of majors in the modern era without a U.S. winner.

"The pressure is off me," Johnson said. "I’m not the one that’s supposed to win it right now."

McIlroy has a chance to match the all-time 36-hole lead in a major, the nine-stroke edge of Henry Cotton from the 1934 British Open and the 36-hole US Open record lead of six shots by Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach.

On a morning when no rival could mount a challenge, McIlroy was astonishing and he grabbed a stranglehold on the event with his amazing 113-yard wedge shot from the eighth fairway.

McIlroy launched the ball to the back fringe of the green and watched from the fairway as the ball slowly rolled back 25 feet and into the cup.

Lifting his arms into the air, McIlroy looked skyward and smiled as playing partner Phil Mickelson, a four-time major champion and five-time US Open runner-up, could only applaud in amazement at the feat by his playing partner.

"He’s striking it flawlessly and putted great on the greens," Mickelson said. "His first two rounds were very impressive."

McIlroy became the first man to reach 13-under par at any stage in US Open history with a birdie at 17, one better than the old mark set by Gil Morgan in the third round in 1992 and matched by Tiger Woods in the final round in 2000.

But then came the mishap on 18 after a tee shot pulled into the left rough.

"I got a bit of grass caught between the club face and the ball and it just turned over a little bit," McIlroy said. "Unfortunately it went into the water. Just one of those things."

Magical McIlroy birdied the par-4 fourth and par-5 sixth and followed his eagle with birdies at 14, 16 and 17. At the par-5 16th, McIlroy drove the green in two, missed a 12-foot eagle bid and settled for a tap-in birdie.

"I’ve played two really good rounds of golf but I know I have to play another two if I want to win," McIlroy said. "I have to keep it going over the next couple of days. I’m halfway there, but there is still a long way to go."

The past 10 majors have been won by 10 different players and seven of the past eight majors have been taken by first-time major winners, streaks McIlroy would continue with a triumph

Canucks rally to defeat Sharks Vancouver 3, San Jose 2

 

Vancouver Canucks celebrate a third-period goal by Henrik Sedin (2nd L) during Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference final hockey playoff game against the San Jose Sharks in Vancouver, British Columbia May 15, 2011.

Photograph by: Andy Clark, Reuters

VANCOUVER — Everybody had a plan. Some were kept quiet and others were quite obvious.
In the opening volley of the Western Conference final series, the margin of error was so minimal that mistakes were greatly magnified Sunday at Rogers Arena. And in the end, the Vancouver Canucks committed fewer gaffes and rallied for a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks that made you wonder if they had the better plan. They must have.
The Canucks had planned to tap the brain of former Sharks defenceman Christian Ehrhoff and it paid off in the winning goal. He smartly spotted Henrik Sedin cutting across the slot and the captain calmly slid a power-play backhander past sprawling goaltender Antti Niemi at 8:21 of the third period to snap a 2-2 deadlock.
There was more.
The Canucks also planned to get their mobile defence involved. And that reaped rewards when a streaking Kevin Bieksa took a cross-ice feed from Alex Burrows and buried a shot less than two minutes earlier to erase a 2-1 deficit that looked like it would stand for too long. Bieksa also got the puck up high over Niemi's shoulder which, of course, was another plan. So was getting more from Henrik and Daniel Sedin.
"It's tough to come back in this league," said Henrik. "We made a great push and showed a lot of courage in the third. Christian made a great play to me. I thought he was going to shoot the puck and it was a great saucer pass. An easy play."
There was nothing easy about this victory.
After Patrick Marleau tipped a Dan Boyle power-play point shot past Roberto Luongo in the second period to provide a 2-1 lead, at least the light bulb went on for the Canucks. After all, the Sharks were operating at a pitiful 13.7 per cent on their playoff power play, but were 6-0 in the post-season when they managed to score with the man advantage. So, the plan was simple. Attack. Attack. Attack.
In a wild scramble around Niemi late in the second period, Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, Chris Higgins and Alex Edler were all involved. Raymond took a whack and forced Niemi to get a pad on his effort, Kesler did the same and Higgins was looking for the loose disc too before Edler sent a backhander that Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked. Niemi then got a left pad on a Hansen shot. The Canucks didn't score, but momentum swung.
"We kept pushing them back and getting in on the forecheck and we were going to get the goal and they were going to crack," Burrows said of out shooting the Sharks 13-7 in the third period and 38-29 overall. "We had all the emotions and were pushing with that emotion."
It paid off. The Canucks scored twice in a span of 1:19 of the third period as Bieksa first put in the dagger before Henrik gave it a twist.
"We felt like we were wearing them down a bit and I just came late on the play and with his great vision, Burr found me," said Bieksa. "We have six guys who can jump up into the play and we feel we can do it by committee. It was the right time."
The Sharks had a plan for Luongo. Sharp-angle shots. Knock the stick out of his hands. And let him handle the puck. It started with Ben Eager, Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski taking successive sharp-angle shots that Luongo has struggled with in the post-season. It continued with Scott Nichol purposely knocking the stick out of Luongo's hands behind the net to unnerve the goalie. And then it happened, the play that would have dominated the highlight reels if not for the spirited comeback.
A giveaway to Joe Thornton when Luongo attempted to play the puck behind his net to open scoring late in the first period looked like the Sharks knew exactly what they were doing and looked like Luongo didn't have a clue what he was up to. He could have left the puck for teammate Dan Hamhuis, but tried to play it to the defenceman. And as if he knew to sit back, Thornton jumped on the failed attempt and whipped a wrister through a sprawling Hamhuis and between the goalie's legs.
But the Canucks kept going to the net. They called a team meeting in Niemi's crease and it worked when Maxim Lapierre went boldly to the goalie's porch and pounded a neat Jannik Hansen feed from behind the net home early in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit. As the game wore on, the Sharks looked worn out and the failed second-period flurry by the Canucks simply set the stage for a stronger final period.
"We didn't have it in the third," admitted Sharks coach Todd McLellan. "We were tired and looked sluggish. There are times when we lose our legs, but our minds are still pretty sharp. And I didn't think that was the case tonight. It started between the ears and it worked through the body. We were like dogs chasing cars on the freeway. We weren't catching anybody and put pucks in very poor spots.
"They beat us at the type of game we wanted to play. We wanted to lay it in behind and sustain offensive time. They wore us down."
Vancouver Province
bkuzma@theprovince.com
Twitter.com/benkuzma

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Daegu athletics meet to take place Thursday

Lee Yeon-kyung of South Korea competes in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in this file photo taken on Nov. 25, 2010 at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in which she won the nation’s first gold medal in a sprint event. The 30-year-old will participate in the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting starting Thursday. / Korea Times file By Yoon Chul The 2011 Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting opens today at Daegu Stadium where the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 will be held in August. About 220 athletes from 43 countries will compete in 17 events. It will feature 10 track events, from the 100 meters to the 3,000-meter steeplechase as well as six field events including the javelin and long jump. Among the competitions the men’s 110 meter hurdles will be one of the most competitive. Last season’s world No. 1 David Oliver of the United States will race against world No. 4 Ryan Wilson and No. 7 Joel Brown, also from the U.S., and No. 8 Dwight Thomas of Jamaica. Park Tae-kyung will run against the world top class sprinters. Park finished third in the Guangzhou Asian Games last year, setting a new personal best in a time of 13.48 seconds. Thomas is the only entrant who has broken 13 seconds, having clocked in at 12.89 seconds, just 02 seconds off the world record. The competition between Walter Dix of the U.S. and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands in the men’s 100 meters will also draw attention. The sprinters finished third and fourth respectively at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. On the women’s side America’s Carmelita Jeter, currently the fastest female athlete, will run in the 100 meters. Jeter’s best of 10.64 seconds is the second fastest time ever. Top U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix will also come to Korea. Felix has three consecutive world championship titles in the women’s 200 meters, the last in 2009 in Berlin. This event is the last stage for the organizing committee to evaluate Daegu’s overall readiness in areas such as transportation and accommodation ahead of the world championships. The athletes will also have the chance to compete at Daegu Stadium before the world championships. The Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships began in 2005. For the last six years world class athletes have visited and showed their prowess to Koreans. Previously, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt in the 100 meters and Yelena Isinbayeva in the pole vault in meetings have all competed at the Daegu event. Ahead of the competition Oliver and Felix gave pointers to Korean children in a special session Wednesday.

yc@koreatimes.co.kr

Jays steal win over Red Sox

TORONTO — Post-game, there were bulletin-board quotes in both clubhouses.
In the Toronto Blue Jays 9-3 win on Wednesday, Rajai Davis rattled the Red Sox with his bat and baserunning for a second straight night. Afterward, someone suggested that Boston starter John Lackey looked a tad wary when the speedy Davis reached first base.
"I don't blame him," Davis said. "I would be too if I was him."
And this barb from Lackey, after giving up a home run to light-hitting John McDonald:
"Everybody's had success with him in the past, to be honest with you. You can't give up hits to him when they've got other guys in that lineup who can hurt you."
The Jays put a mighty hurt on the Red Sox in a sweep of this two-game set. After a horrible series against Detroit, they seemed to flip a switch.
Lackey hurt himself too, allowing all nine runs and five walks, but yes, McDonald delivered a couple of body blows: a solo homer and a two-run double that knocked out Lackey in the seventh inning.
Davis enjoyed his best game as a Blue Jay with four singles and two RBIs. In the fourth inning, he stole two bases on consecutive pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly, duplicating a feat he performed in the 10th inning the previous night.
Toronto did everything well in the series finale, using solid pitching and crisp defence to hold Boston at bay before blowing it open with a five-run burst in the seventh.
"This is the way we expect ourselves to play," McDonald said. "No one in this locker-room was happy with the way we played against Detroit."
Among the encouraging signs was the sudden surge of Davis, who entered Wednesday's game batting .197 and finished it hitting .240. In two games against Boston, he had five singles, a triple and four stolen bases.
When Davis is hitting and running, he can electrify the Jays' offence and flummox an opposing pitcher. The fans love it too, as do his teammates.
"I think it absolutely rubs off, the energy, and the fans get involved," Davis said. "That's exciting to play, when the fans are just getting rowdy out there."
McDonald and Davis, batting back-to-back at the bottom of the lineup, both come from Connecticut, which is Red Sox country. McDonald grew up a Yankees fan, Davis a Mets fan.
In the fourth inning, they ganged up on Lackey. McDonald's homer gave Toronto a 3-1 lead. Then Davis singled, stole second and third and scored on Yunel Escobar's sacrifice fly.
"He has a unique ability to outrun the baseball," manager John Farrell said. "More than anything, he creates a lot of distraction for the guy on the mound."
The guy on the mound for the Jays, Jesse Litsch, worked a string 5 2/3 innings, leaving after giving up homers to Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz that cut the lead to 4-3.
But Casey Janssen got the final out of the sixth, then teamed up with catcher J.P. Arencibia for a pivotal defensive play in the seventh.
The fleet Carl Crawford led off the inning with a single. Janssen refused to let him get a good lead, varying his delivery tempo and making several throws to first. Then, on a 3-2 pitch to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Crawford took off.
The batter took a third strike and Arencibia cut down Crawford at second. Then Janssen struck out Jose Iglesias to end the inning to preserve the one-run lead.
"I was so fired up for Casey," McDonald said. "You watch what he did, how well he controls the running game. He varied his looks, he's quick to the plate, he holds the ball. He does a really good job of not allowing base stealers like Carl Crawford to get a good jump. And then to execute his pitch there, 3-2, and give J.P. a good ball to throw — it was a momentum swing for us."
Lackey's ERA is 8.01, thanks in part to those pesky hitters at the bottom of the Jays' lineup. Davis hopes he'll soon be back in the leadoff spot, where he started the season before an ankle injury forced him to miss 16 games.
If Davis keeps this up, he will change the personality of the Jays' offence, McDonald said.
"We've been a station-to-station club for a long time. We hope to see more of that from him, and other guys as well."
National Post
jlott@nationalpost.com
twitter.com@LottOnBaseball

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