Michael Phelps becomes first male swimmer to make five Olympics

June 30, 2016

Omaha (US), June 30: Michael Phelps is headed to a fifth Olympics in the event that launched his epic Games career -- the 200m butterfly.swim30

Phelps, whose record 22 Olympic medals include an astonishing 18 gold, won the 200m fly at the US Olympic swimming trials yesterday, and if the time of 1min 54.84sec left something to be desired, it got the job done.

"I'm checking a box off, being able to get on the team," said Phelps, who faded on the final lap but was able to hold off the determined Tom Shields, who took second in 1:55.81.

"With everything that's happened, being able to come back -- this was probably harder than any swim I've had in my life," said Phelps, whose comeback after a brief post-London retirement was disrupted by a drink-driving arrest followed by a stint in rehab.

"I didnt feel good the first two swims, didn't really feel that good tonight," added Phelps, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Thursday. "But getting on the team was the most important thing, and that's the only thing I had to do tonight."

Phelps led at every turn, but Shields stuck with him and was on his shoulder coming off the turn for home.

"I tried to take it out and just pray to God that I was going to hang on," Phelps said.

The 200m fly was the event in which a teenaged Phelps set his first world record, and his world mark of 1:51.51 -- set at the tail end of the bodysuit era in 2009 -- still stands.

He made his first Olympic team, in 2000, in the 200m fly.

Back then he was a little embarrassed by some of the press conference questions he fielded: "Do you have a girlfriend" and "Have you kissed her?"

Now, he's delighted to answer questions about fiancee Nicole Johnson and their two-month-old son, Boomer, who received a quick kiss from his father as Phelps was being feted by some 14,000 fans at the CenturyLink Center after his medal ceremony.

Phelps said it was fitting that he punched his ticket to a fifth Games in the 200 fly, an event his sister once swam which he called "very special to the family".

Regaining the Olympic title he surrendered to Chad le Clos in London, in an event he long considered his baby, figures to be a strong motivator for Phelps in Rio.

"I've definitely thought a lot about that race," Phelps said of the 2012 final, adding that he hadn't brought himself to watch it on video until recently.

"I know there's a lot that I did in that race that I'm not going to do again, and I think I'm a lot more prepared this time than I was last time.

"I'm looking forward to having the chance to race him this summer."

However, le Clos won't be the only man standing in Phelps's way in the 200m fly, with Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, Japan's Daiya Seto and Masato Sakai topping the world rankings.

"We have a little over 30 days to prepare," said Phelps, who is also chasing Olympic berths in the 100m fly and 200m individual medley. "Just looking forward to hopefully swimming faster than what I swam here."

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March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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