Usain Bolt seals ‘triple-triple’ as Jamaica win Men's 4x100m relay

August 20, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 20: Usain Bolt brought the curtain down on his Olympic career with a record-equalling ninth gold medal on Friday, anchoring Jamaica to men's 100m relay glory at the 2016 Rio Olympics in a perfectly-scripted finale to complete his unprecedented "triple triple".

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Japan's quartet took a surprise silver in 37.60sec while Canada took bronze after the United States, who crossed in third, were later disqualified.

The victory saw Bolt complete a third consecutive clean sweep of the100m, 200m and 4x100m titles following his six gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Games.

It leaves Bolt -- who will retire in 2017 -- level with Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi on a total of nine Olympic gold medals, a record for a track and field athlete.

The relay gold was the final act of an incredible Olympic career that redefined athletics and often left commentators scrambling to find a new vocabulary of superlatives as each new milestone came and went.

On Sunday, Bolt became the first man in history to win a hat-trick of 100m gold medals.

He then followed that up with Thursday's barnstorming win in the 200m, sealing another never-before-seen treble.

Friday's triumph was potentially the most awkward, with Bolt's gold medal hopes reliant on the performances of his team-mates.

But Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade were in no mood to fluff their lines.

A superb third leg by Ashmeade ensured that Bolt had a precious lead after the final changeover.

From that point there was only ever going to be one outcome and Bolt powered home by three metres to universal delight.

Bolt will now set off a year-long lap of honour that will culminate with the World Championships in London next August.

The Jamaican is preparing to exit with athletics fighting to restore credibility after a year dominated by doping and corruption scandals.

International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe is adamant however that athletics will endure despite the loss of its most charismatic leading man.

In an interview with AFP on Friday, Coe said Bolt had transcended his sport in a way that was comparable to boxing icon Muhammad Ali.

"The man is a genius," Coe said. "There's been nobody since Muhammad Ali who's got remotely near to what this guy has done in terms of grabbing the public imagination."

However, Coe argued that just as a new generation of boxers emerged after Ali's retirement, so track and field would unearth new personalities after Bolt.

"It's a massive gap, but it's not a gap that is insuperable," Coe said.

"You're not going to fill that gap overnight, but there are great, talented athletes out there."

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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