12 Sunday, May 10, 2020 Sports

Football has too special a role Amir Khan won’t box behind in Germany, says biathlon’s Dahlmeier closed doors amid virus risk DPA Berlin AFP those fights need a crowd. London “I just feel that for a boxer German Olympic biathlon to walk into an arena and walk champion Laura Dahlmeier Former world champion into a fight having no fans in would have liked to see a later Amir Khan has said he won’t an empty stadium it’s going to restart for the Bundesliga. fight behind closed doors be like walking into a sparring “It is difficult to judge should boxing resume during session so I can’t really see whether this is perverse or the coronavirus outbreak. that working,” he added. simply typical of football,” the British officials are look- “It’s hard to lift yourself seven-times world champion ing at July as a possible return really and get yourself ready told dpa. date for bouts, albeit these for a fight. I can’t see the The Bundesliga and Ger- would take place in the first big names doing that unless man second tier will resume on instance without spectators at there’s ridiculous money from May 16 after being suspended venues. the TV company on the table. for two months because of the “Even though there is big You need the audience there novel coronavirus pandemic. money I wouldn’t be able to to lift your spirits.” The government has given the do it as I need the fan base Meanwhile, Khan ques- green light for the restart un- there,” British boxer Khan tioned whether the health der strictly controlled condi- told the BBC on Saturday. measures proposed by the tions and without fans. “I’ve got three kids. I do so British Boxing Board of Con- much in the sport already and trol for staging bouts amid the I feel I’d rather be 100 per- pandemic, including the test- cent sure before I jump back ing of boxers, who would iso- in,” explained the 33-year- late at designated hotels, and old. officials wearing masks dur- Twice a light-welterweight ing bouts, would be enough world champion after earn- to stop the spread of the virus. ing an Olympic silver medal “What if someone gets as a teenager, Khan won his badly injured or catches last bout with a fourth-round something from his oppo- victory over Billy Dib in Saudi nent?,” he said. Arabia in July to take his pro- “At times when you hit German Olympic biathlon cham- fessional record to 34 wins someone with a shot, the spit pion Laura Dahlmeier. from 39 fights. will come onto you; the sweat Khan has previously made will fall on you. When you hit “Football is above every- it clear he wants to end his someone there is going to be thing else. From my point of career with a lucrative bout blood flying off you and com- view, it would have been good against ring great Manny ing onto you. to wait a little longer, it doesn’t Pacquiao or in an all-British “I just feel like it’s going to have to be played again right No fans, no fight - British boxer Amir Khan.(AFP) contest with Kell Brook -- and be very dangerous.” away,” added the 26-year-old, German sportswoman of the year for 2017. Other top German sports people have criticised the re- sumption of the Bundesliga be- Umtiti suffers calf knock in second Barca training session fore other professional sports with javelin thrower Johannes AFP the 26-year-old would be out at the club’s facility on Friday Vetter, shot-putter Christina Madrid for. The 26-year-old Umtiti after almost two months on Schwanitz and Olympic row- Spanish media report that joined Barca from Lyon in lockdown in defence against ing champion Karl Schulze France defender Samuel he will be unavailable for two 2016 after he helped a virus that has killed over saying it was unfair. Umtiti has picked up a calf or three weeks, so will likely France to the final of 26,0000 in Spain. Dahlmeier, who retired in injury in just the second ses- be back in time for a potential Euro 2016 Footballers in Spain re- 2019, thinks it is important sion since Barcelona returned June 20 restart for football in started training following the “that not only the Bundesliga to training from the corona- Spain as the country attempts announcement last week of plays, but that the relaxation virus quarantine, the Spanish to loosen coronavirus restric- He played 16 times for a government plan that aims of the rules also reaches young champions announced on Sat- tions. the Catalan giants this season to end quarantine for profes- people.” She added: “If little urday. The 26-year-old Umtiti before play was suspended in sional players. boys aren’t allowed to go out Barca said that Umtiti joined Barca from Lyon in March, and was twice injured Individual training ses- for a kick-about, but on TV you picked up an injury to his right 2016 after he helped France to earlier in the campaign, caus- sions are the first step to what can watch Bundesliga again, calf during Saturday’s indi- the final of Euro 2016. He had ing him to miss 10 matches La Liga hopes will be a return that doesn’t make sense.” Oth- vidual training session at the further success with France in between September and No- to action in June that will This handout pictured made available by FC Barcelona shows Barce- er sporting events must also be club’s Joan Gamper facility, their successful 2018 World vember last year. complete the 2019-20 season lona’s French defender Samuel Umtiti attending a training session at the allowed to start up again too, but did not specify how long Cup campaign. Barca returned to training behind closed doors. Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi, Spain, on Friday. (AFP) she said. Hamilton says races without fans ‘better Nike’s rivals play catch-up than nothing’ in marathon shoe wars AFP Kipchoge was wearing an unfair”. Paris AlphaFly prototype boasting “It was equivalent to let- three carbon-fibre plates when ting one group of pole vaulters When Eliud Kipchoge made he dipped under two hours in use fibreglass while everyone history by beating the two- Vienna on October 12, while else was consigned to bamboo hour mark for the marathon, fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei or some other stiff material,” the Kenyan was wearing a was in ZoomX Vaporfly Next% Burfoot told AFP. pair of controversial Nike run- shoes featuring a single plate Burns, who competes in- ning shoes that has sent rival when she set a startling new ternationally in ultramara- companies scrambling to play women’s record of 2hr 14min thons, said it was now a ques- catch-up in a business worth 04sec in Chicago a day later. tion of “how much we want billions of dollars. Critics have been quick to performances to be feats of The likes of Adidas, Asics, question the advantage Nike- engineering”. Lewis Hamilton said the virus shutdown was also an opportunity to Brooks, Hoka, New Balance wearing athletes suddenly en- Burfoot argues that other reflect. (AFP) and Saucony have recently joyed. That led to World Ath- manufacturers had been left released or are about to unveil letics eventually stepping in to for dust. DPA like a test day. But...racing is their own carbon-fibre ver- limit the thickness of the sole “The world woke up to a Berlin racing. I really, really do miss sions of running shoes. to 40 millimetres (Vaporfly new reality. But it wasn’t easy it,” he added, saying he could Critics claim the new shoes are 36mm) and one embed- for other shoe companies to Formula One world cham- not remember the last time he are the equivalent of mechani- ded plate, while also insisting Rival brands are racing to keep up with Nike and the revolutionary catch up to Nike -- it took pion Lewis Hamilton believes spent six weeks in the same cal doping, while supporters that running shoes had to be shoes that helped Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge become the first man time, and trial and error--and races without spectators are place. hail them as a revolutionary commercially available from ever to run a marathon in under two hours in Vienna in October we still don’t know how much not ideal but worthwhile if it Generally Hamilton is technical advance in footwear mid-March to be allowed in 2019 with an unofficial time of 1hr 59min 40.2sec.(AFP) they have closed the gap.” means the season can start. hoping the coronavirus out- after decades of stagnation. elite competition -- that is, no Running shoe expert F1 is planning to begin break proves to have brought Nike said its Vaporfly more prototypes. Burns said in terms of the ri- without fans in Austria on July about some good - despite range, unveiled in 2016, was Geoff Burns, a biomechan- vals’ new shoes “there are only 5 with the first 10 races of the high death tolls across the an “example of how product ics and sport performance re- one or two that may be getting season postponed or cancelled world. design can capture the fasci- searcher at the University of close to Nike’s”. due to the coronavirus crisis. “What is great is I’m get- nation of an entire sporting Michigan, said the introduc- “It seems that most other “I don’t know how excit- ting messages from people community and, more broad- tion of Vaporflys had been a companies have made shoes ing it is going to be for people around the world who are ly, inspire new benchmarks of tipping point. that are a step forward from watching on TV but it is going struggling during this period athletic potential”, boasting an “Previously, the optimal- their previous racing shoes, to be better than nothing,” the because they are not getting to improvement in times by up to ity equation for racing shoes but I’d be surprised if any of 35-year-old said in a video in- watch sports. And it just shows four percent. was to provide a little bit of them are quite as beneficial as terview published by his Mer- how significant sport is in peo- Elite athletes wearing cushion at the lightest possible Kipchoge’s controversial Nike AlphaFly prototype shoes contained the original Vaporfly 4% from cedes team on Saturday. ple’s lives. It brings us all to- versions of the Vaporfly, the weight,” Burns told AFP. three carbon-fibre plates which give a propulsive sensation to each three years ago, let alone the “The more fans there, the gether,” he said. carbon plates of which lend a “The new foam allowed stride. (AFP) newer iterations.” more atmosphere you have. “You have to look at the propulsive sensation to every engineers and biomechanists Adidas, Asics, Brooks and It is going to be very empty.” positives...the skies are clear- stride, have set a rash of per- to re-think the architecture of stagnant for the better part of of Runner’s World magazine, Saucony, following Nike and Grands prix without fans are er. I think people are probably sonal bests and Nike runners what was on someone’s foot, four decades.” said he thought the unan- Hoka, are releasing marathon expected to take place until appreciating this time more, have practically swept the and they demonstrated that nounced introduction of the shoes this year on sale to all at least September. F1 hopes their families more, their rela- board in long-distance events substantial gains in perfor- ‘Absolutely unfair ‘ Nike shoes in 2016, particu- runners, in time for the Tokyo to pack in as many as 18 races tionships more. -- they took 31 of the 36 podi- mance were still on the table Amby Burfoot, winner of larly at the US Olympic Mara- Olympics, postponed to next before the end of the season, “I really hope we all can um places at the six marathon with equipment modifications the 1968 Boston marathon thon Trials and the Rio Olym- year because of the coronavi- with a schedule expected soon. grow from this experience and majors last year. despite having been largely and a former editor-in-chief pics, had been “absolutely rus pandemic. “For us it is going to be I hope it passes soon.”