ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015

44SPORTS

More than 800 highly ‘suggestive or abnormal’ test results

Athletics roiled by mass doping allegations after leakKUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2, (Agencies):Leaks of confidential doping data threwglobal athletics into chaos on Sunday,after a newspaper and a broadcaster saida third of medals in Olympic and worldchampionship endurance races from2001-2012 were won by runners withsuspicious blood.

Britain’s Sunday Times and Germany’sARD/WDR broadcaster said they hadobtained the secret data from the vaults ofthe global athletics governing body, theIAAF, supplied by a whistleblower “dis-gusted” by the extent of doping.

The news organisations said they hadshown the data to twoexperts, who conclud-ed that track and fieldendurance eventswere in the same direstate as cycling hadbeen at the peak of adoping scandal thatnearly destroyed thatsport, when AmericanLance Armstrong wasstripped of seven Tourde France victories.

“Never have I seen such an alarminglyabnormal set of blood values,” theSunday Times quoted Australian dopingexpert Robin Parisotto, one of the twoscientists that reviewed the data on behalfof the two news organisations, as saying.

“So many athletes appear to havedoped with impunity, and it is damningthat the IAAF appears to have sat idly byand let this happen.”

The IAAF did not immediately addressthe substance of the reports but said itwas preparing a response and noted theywere based on confidential informationobtained without permission.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, a sep-arate body set up in 1999 to coordinatedoping investigations across global sport,said it was “very disturbed”.

The allegations “will, once again,shake the foundations of clean athletesworldwide,” WADA’s president CraigReedie said at a session meeting of theInternational Olympic Committee inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“These are wild allegations, wide alle-gations and we will check them out andhave that done with the commission asquickly as possible,” Reedie said.

The International Olympic Committeeexpressed confidence that WADA wouldget to the bottom of the allegations.

The allegations concern techniquesused to improve the ability of blood tocarry oxygen to cells, which can give anadvantage to competitors in events whereendurance is critical, like long distancecycling, or, in the case of athletics, run-ning over medium and long distances.

The Sunday Times and ARD said theywere given access to the results of over12,000 blood tests provided by more than5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012.More than 800 of the athletes had record-ed one or more “abnormal” results,defined as a result that had less than onechance in 100 of being natural.

Between them, those athletes account-ed for 146 medals at top events, including55 golds, according to the data. Russiaaccounted for by far the most suspiciousresults, with 415 abnormal tests, followeddistantly by Ukraine, Morocco, Spain,Kenya, Turkey and others.

“A remarkable 80 percent of Russia’smedal winners had recorded suspiciousscores at some point in their careers,” theSunday Times said. It said results wereclean for a number of top athletes, includ-ing Britain’s 2012 Olympic double goldmedallist Mo Farah, Jamaican sprinterUsain Bolt and British heptathlete JessicaEnnis-Hill.

The allegations are likely to overshad-ow the biennial world athletics champi-onships, which begin in 20 days inBeijing.

The IAAF said in a statement the alle-gations were largely based on analysis ofits database of private and confidentialmedical data, “which has been obtainedwithout consent.”

‘We must come out together and forget our differences’

Kenyan marathon stars march for ‘peace’KAINUK, Kenya, Aug 2, (AFP): JohnKelai became a runner to escape a hardand dangerous life in northern Kenya,where three of his uncles were killed inarmed cattle raids when he was a teenag-er.

Now the 38-year old top marathon run-ner has returned to lead a peace march,hoping to end cattle rustling and revengekillings in Kenya’s remote and impover-ished north.

“We must come out together and forgetour differences, our tribal lines, andspeak out in one voice: enough isenough,” said Kelai, the 2010Commonwealth champion.

Rivalries between pastoralist commu-nities competing for scarce resources,such as livestock and water, are worsenedby easy access to automatic weapons andthe absence of state security officers.

Kelai is organising the 836-kms (520-mile) peace march, with Ethiopian run-ning legend Haile Gebrselassie expectedto join for the final stages of the walk,due to end on Aug 6.

Shouting “Amani! Amani!” — “peace”in Kenya’s Swahili language — Kelaiand 30 of his travelling companionsarrived at the small dusty town ofKainuk, on the border of Turkana andWest Pokot districts, where deadly skir-mishes over livestock have taken hun-dreds of lives in recent years.

Just two months ago, five Kenyansecurity officers were murdered in arevenge attack after several Pokot herds-men were killed and their animals drivenaway in an ambush by Turkana raiders.

Kelai’s peace crusade hopes to drawattention to this kind of violence, andhelp end it.

The athletes, who are encouraging peo-ple to join them in their walk, hope toraise over $250,000 (225,000 euros) tofund a peace-building programme, saidthe Aegis Trust, which has worked torebuild communities riven by conflict,notably in Rwanda after the 1994 geno-cide.

Aegis Trust, which is helping organisethe walk, said the programme “willengage at least 10,000 young people atrisk of being drawn into the ethnic vio-lence, saving lives.”

The call for peace appeared to resonatewell. Local officials have provided secu-rity and the athletes were welcomed bymore than 50 elders of the Pokot andTurkana communities when they arrivedin Kainuk earlier this month.

“These merciless killings betweenour own Kenyan brothers have contin-ued for too long. This is just mere stu-pidity,” said 80-year-old Pokot elder,Matayo Chemala, who travelled a longdistance from Kanyarwit town on theKenya-Uganda border to witness theoccasion.

Chemala said that where he comesfrom, communities had negotiated peace,“and now we live happily with each otherand our animals can graze on both sidesof the border”.

“Why can it not be the same amongKenyan blood brothers?” he said.

Turkana elder Elim Okapel decided tojoin the athletes for their entire journey.“It is now 48 years that we have preachedpeace and we have not got a remedy. Wehave decided walking was the only solu-tion,” he said.

A handout photo made and released by Aegis Trust on July 14, shows formerNew York marathon champion Tegla Loroupe (center), handing out a trophy and‘Walk-for-Peace’ merchandise to a participant as she and double Olympic goldmedallist Ezekiel Kemboi (2nd left) and former marathon record-holder WilsonKipsang (3rd left) join other top Kenyan athletes in ‘Walk-for-Peace’ initiative inKenya’s remote and volatile north-western regions notorious for deadly

inter-communities cattle rustling. (AFP)

A handout photo made and released by Aegis Trust on July 16, shows Kenyanathletes walking along the Kainuk-Kapenguria road in West-Pokot county, con-sidered a dangerous region, where several people have been killed during

cattle-rustling raids. (AFP)

Crew members of the Apache Star powerboat (left to right), French navigatorDamien Sauvage, mechanical engineer John Pompi, Apache boats manufac-turer Marc McManus, and owner/driver of Apache Star Roger Kluh, wave upon

arrival to Havana on Aug 1 from Key West. (AFP)

German sets speedboat record

A German businessman and powerboating fanatic on Saturday broke a57-year-old record for the fastest boatcrossing between the United Statesand Cuba.

Roger Klueh, 50, powered his“Apache Star” powerboat the 160 kilo-meters (90 miles) separating KeyWest and Havana, shattering a recordthat had stood since 1958.

Klueh and his small crew pilotedthe high-tech speedboat between KeyWest and Havana in just under twohours. The boat was capable of topspeeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

The earlier speed record, set byAmerican Forest Johnson, was acomparatively leisurely six hours 23minutes.

Five months after that race, FidelCastro and his band of rebels seizedpower from Cuban dictator FulgencioBatista, the beginning of the downturnin US-Cuban relations and the end ofboat competitions across the FloridaStraits.

Klueh has said his record attemptwas made possible by the historicthaw in ties between the former ColdWar foes. (AFP)

‘Seeking justice for Mitchell’

Bosses let ‘rules-breaking’sailor compete in Cup: suitSAN DIEGO, Aug 2, (AP): Top officialswith Oracle Team USA knew grinderMatt Mitchell didn’t illegally alter a cata-maran used in warmup regattas and yet leta rules-breaking sailor compete in the2013 America’s Cup, according to a law-suit filed in federal court in San Francisco.

Mitchell, of Auckland, New Zealand,is suing Oracle Team USA for $400,000in damages. Mitchell, one of severalOracle sailors punished in the biggestcheating scandal in the regatta’s history,was suspended for the first four races ofthe match, effectively ending hisAmerica’s Cup career.

Mitchell contends OTUSA manage-ment knew grinder Simeon Tienpontbroke rules yet let him sail. Tienpontoperated the complicated hydrofoil sys-tem. He and skipperJimmy Spithill werethe two crewmenmost responsiblefor Oracle’s stun-ning comeback vic-tory over TeamNew Zealand onSan Francisco Bay.

“The very kernelof the lawsuit is thatOracle knew thatMatt hadn’t put theresin in the kingpost,” Mitchell’s attor-ney, Patricia Barlow of San Francisco,said Saturday. “We’re just trying to seekjustice for Matt Mitchell, who wasthrown under the bus.”

Syndicate CEO Russell Coutts, a five-time Cup winner, felt Mitchell was inno-cent, according to exhibits in the lawsuit.

The scandal broke when it was discov-

ered that ballast was illegally added tocatamarans sailed by Oracle Team USA inwarmup regattas called the America’s CupWorld Series. Coutts sent Mitchell a letterin August 2014, apparently for him to usein his appeal to the International SailingFederation’s Disciplinary Commission.

“I do not believe Matthew was involvedin filling the BAR forward king post withapproximately 1.5 kg of lead and resin inviolation of the aC45 Class Rule,” Couttswrote. “It is my clear belief and under-standing that Simeon Tienpont poured theresin into the kingpost. In my opinionMatthew was wrongly penalized.”

Coutts said in the letter that Oracleconducted “a prompt internal enquireyand insisted that all personnel fully coop-erate with the International Jury in itsown investigations and further hearings.”

Oracle was docked two points in thestandings in the match against EmiratesTeam New Zealand. It fell behind 8-1 butwon the final eight races in one of thebiggest comebacks in sports.

The lawsuit contains copies of textsfrom Coutts’ wife, Jenny, and LucianaCorral, personal assistant to Oracle TeamUSA general manager Grant Simmer, toMitchell’s wife, Andrea, in earlySeptember 2013, before and after theharshest penalties in Cup history wereannounced.

One of the texts from Jenny Coutts said,“Poor Matt he must b wondering why inearth he carried on!! ... and as Russell sayshe certainly wasn’t to blame!!!”

Best of the Rest

Di Maria set for med:Manchester United’s Argentinewinger Angel Di Maria is set to havea medical ahead of a proposed trans-fer to French champions Paris St-Germain a year after arriving at OldTrafford for a British record transferfee, local media reported on Sunday.

Di Maria joined United from RealMadrid for a fee of 59.7 million

pounds ($92.59million) but, afteran impressivestart to his Redscareer, struggledto display theform that madehim one of themost fearedattackers inEurope.

Di Mariascored or assisted in three of his firstfour United games but netted his finalleague goal in October and only start-ed one match following their FA Cupquarter-final defeat against Arsenal inMarch.

The 27-year-old did not join theclub’s pre-season tour of the UnitedStates following the Copa Americaand has been widely linked with amove to the big-spending Frenchside. (RTRS)

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Goodes backed: Australians haverallied behind one of the country’smost high-profile indigenous playersafter he was persistently booed atgames, showing their support at foot-ball stadiums and on social mediawith #IStandWithAdam.

The jeers during matches involvingSydney Swans’ Australian Rules foot-ball star Adam Goodes have sparkedaccusations of racism, with the for-mer Australian of the Year taking anindefinite break from playing amidthe controversy.

A season-high crowd of almost40,000 people at the Sydney CricketGround raised their voices in unisonto cheer the absent Goodes in an emo-tionally charged game between theSwans and the Adelaide Crows onSaturday. (AFP)

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Lynx win over Shock: MayaMoore scored 16 of her 20 points inthe fourth quarter and Sylvia Fowlesadded 19 points to lead the MinnesotaLynx to an 86-80 win over Tulsa onSaturday.

Moore hit a 3-pointer midwaythrough the fourth quarter to break a71-71 deadlock and hit two more 3sdown the stretch to reach 20 pointsfor the 10th straight game. TriciaListon added 13 off the bench for theLynx (15-4), who won their thirdgame in four nights.

Riquna Williams scored 35 pointsfor Tulsa (10-10), which lost its sixthstraight. She had 14 in the third quar-ter to help the Shock rally afterMinnesota built a 13-point lead.Plenette Pierson and Odyssey Simsadded 16 apiece. (AP)

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‘FA are amateurs’: Hull CityChairman Assem Allam labelled theFootball Association (FA) “amateurs”after the governing body blocked hisattempted rebranding of the second-tier club for a second time.

Allam wanted to rename theChampionship club Hull Tigersbelieving it would be easier to marketthe club and bring in increased com-mercial revenue but his attempts wererejected by the FA Council last month.

“It is a sad day that most of thepeople who make the decisions areamateurs,” Allam told the Sun. “To goglobal, we need to market ourselves.The shorter the name, the better.

“Look at Google, Apple, Twitter.You don’t go out to the world and say‘We are Hull City Tigers AssociationFootball Club’. If you do that, expectto fail.” (RTRS)

Matt Mitchell

Farah

Di Maria

ATHLETICS

SAILING

MARATHON