Rio Olympics 2016: Michael Phelps clinches 21st gold medal with 4x200 freestyle relay win

August 10, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 10: Michael Phelps captured his 20th Olympic gold medal in devastating fashion Tuesday, sealing victory with a kiss, before adding a staggering 21st before the night was over.

michael

The American crushed rival Chad le Clos to regain his 200 metres butterfly title, celebrating victory in a race bristling with tension by pointing to the sky and gesturing to the Rio crowd to "bring the noise" — an order they duly obeyed.

Katinka Hosszu and Katie Ledecky struck further blows for girl power, but again it was all about Phelps, who later anchored the American 4x200 freestyle relay team to gold as the clock edged toward midnight local time.

Milking the acclaim of the Brazilian crowd, Phelps climbed past the massed bank of poolside photographers to kiss fiancee Nicole and baby Boomer after an emotional medals ceremony.

Entering the arena like a gladiator, his face a granite mask of concentration, Phelps dominated a grudge final le Clos had billed as "Ali versus Frazier" to become the oldest individual swimming gold medallist in Olympic history at 31.

South African Le Clos, who won by a fingertip four years ago in London to rob the American of a hat-trick of titles, faded badly down the stretch to finish out of the medals.

World record holder Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, clocked 1min 53.36sec to add to his staggering title tally as Japan's Masato Sakai came through for a surprise silver in 1:53.40. Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi took bronze in 1:53.62.

Competing in his fifth and final Olympics, victory was twice as sweet for Phelps after clashing with le Clos in the media since losing to the South African in their epic tussle in London.

Home-run trot

Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay at the weekend and if he feels greedy, there is more potential gold for him in the 100m fly and the 200m individual medley — events he has incredibly won at the past three Olympics.

Still, Phelps was not done, putting the finishing touch to an easy win in the 4x200m free, cruising home almost two and a half seconds ahead of Britain's James Guy in the swimming equivalent of baseball's home-run trot around the bases.

Hungary's "Iron Lady" Hosszu completed the individual medley double by winning the 200m final in an Olympic best 2:06.58, with Britain's Siobhan-Marie O'Connor taking silver in 2:06.88. Bronze went to American Maya Dirado in 2:08.79.

Ledecky captured her second gold medal of the Games after holding off a brave charge from Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom in an absorbing women's 200m freestyle final.

The American phenom, who won the 400m title with a stunning world record on day two, clocked 1:53.73 to win by 0.35 seconds from Sjostrom with Australia's Emma Mckeon taking bronze in 1:54.92.

"That was a really tough race and it hurt really badly," said Ledecky. "I'm pretty sure that's the closest I've come to throwing up in the middle of a race. I had to dig deep. I'm just so glad I got my hand on the wall first, it was all worth it."

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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News Network
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will receive the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award for his exploits in international cricket in the 2018-19 season, the BCCI announced on Sunday.

The world's leading pacer will be honoured during the BCCI Annual Awards here on Sunday.

The world's No. 1 ODI bowler made his Test debut during India's tour of South Africa in January 2018 and has not looked back since. He picked up a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies becoming the first and only Asian bowler to achieve the feat.

He played a stellar role in the historic 2-1 Test series win in Australia, India's first Down Under and which helped them retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy. While Bumrah nets the biggest prize in the men's category, Poonam Yadav will claim the top prize in women's section and will be awarded the best international cricketer.

The award will be another feather in the leg-spinner's cap who recently received the Arjuna Award. Former India captains Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra will be presented with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award and the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for women respectively.

A member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, Srikkanth took on the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers and scored an attacking 38, the top individual score in the low-scoring final at the Lord's. He also captained India and post-retirement served as the chief selector and it was during his tenure that the 2011 World Cup squad was picked.

Anjum is one of the finest batswomen and the first Indian to play 100 ODIs. In a career spanning 17 years, Anjum represented India in four 50-over World Cups and two T20 World Cup (played in one).

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, "The BCCI Awards is our way of recognising the finest on-field performances right from the age group to senior level and also honour our legends.

"It will be a special evening in Mumbai as we will also have the 7th MAK Pataudi lecture and I am delighted to inform that it will be Virender Sehwag, who will address the gathering."

Board secretary Jay Shah said, "The BCCI Awards are an important feature in India's cricketing calendar, a melange of aspiration and inspiration. "We wanted to make Naman bigger and better and have introduced four new categories – highest run-getter and wicket-takers in WODIs and best international debut men and women – from this year. A total of 25 awards will be presented."

Arun Singh Dhumal, the board's treasurer, said, "Right from domestic to international level, Indian Cricket has had a memorable 2018-19 season. We have started the year on the right note with Team India completing a convincing series win against Sri Lanka and they will be in attendance. The U-19 team is in South Africa for the World Cup and all eyes will be on the stars of tomorrow. It will be a special evening and I congratulate the award winners".

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