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