ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 SPORTS 14 French team led by Besson fi nish 3rd in Bermuda Britain’s Ainslie beats Slingsby’s Aussies in SailGP BERMUDA, April 26, (AP): British star Sir Ben Ainslie month removed from serving as co-helmsman of the Italian pulled ahead of Australia’s Tom Slingsby early on the sec- crew that lost the America’s Cup match in New Zealand. ond leg of the podium race and held on to win the opening “Awesome conditions out there. We were having a great regatta of SailGP’s second season on a wild day in strong race. ... They just took us out, unfortunately. When we got wind on Bermuda’s Great Sound. to the dock, Nathan Outteridge came up and apologized.” With the 50-foot foiling catamarans at times approaching Spithill and Outteridge are both Australians. freeway speeds in wind of 18-24 knots, Ainslie beat the de- Spithill said his crew tried to fi nish the race but lost con- fending champion Aussies by four seconds in the winner- trol of the wingsail and then the port rudder snapped and take-all fi nal race, with Billy Besson skippering France to locked. The boat rolled over on its side, with the wingsail a distant third. resting in the water. This time the victory counts for Ainslie, a four-time “It’s just tough. In some ways it reminds me a little bit Olympic gold medalist and former America’s Cup winner. of motor racing, where at times, tight tracks, going fast like Ainslie joined SailGP following its inaugural season of 2019 that, sometimes someone’s going to take you out and there’s and dominated what had been the Season 2 opener in Syd- not a lot you can do to control it,” said Spithill, a two-time ney in February 2020. But that result was voided when the America’s Cup winner who makes his permanent home in global league was shut down a few weeks later due to the San Diego with his American wife and their two sons. coronavirus pandemic. Ainslie praised his crew for rebounding nicely from Fri- day, when it had a hard time controlling the catamaran and SAILING had fi nishes of 7-7-2. The Brits won Sunday’s fi rst race with the Aussies second, and the teams fl ipped positions in the fi nal fl eet race. “Better late than never,” said Ainslie, who enjoyed a “I’ve got to give huge credit to the team because we really Champagne shower with his crew shortly after the fi nish and struggled” on the fi rst day, Ainslie said. “We worked hard then swigged from a bottle on the ride back to port. trying to analyze what was going wrong. It was a big team “Cracking race. That was awesome,” Ainslie added. “It’s effort.” what we want to do, going up against these guys in condi- Ainslie, eliminated from the America’s Cup challenger tions like this. It was just perfect.” fi nals by Spithill in February, expects a tough, competitive It was a stunning reversal for Slingsby and his Aussie chase for this season’s $1 million, winnter-take-all prize. mates, who had won four of the fi ve fl eet races, including The second of eight regattas is June 5-6 in Taranto, Italy. a sweep of Friday’s three races in the eight-boat fi eld. They Besides the collision and capsize, there were wild high- also dominated the global league’s fi rst season, including speed mark roundings and plenty of nosedives in the top-end beating Japan in the $1 million, winner-take-all fi nale. conditions. “It was a great race,” said Slingsby, a former America’s “Today, some of the capsizes and the collisions and the Cup winner and an Olympic gold medalist. “We feel a little In this photo provided by SailGP, the Britain SailGP Team presented by INEOS, helmed by Sir Ben Ainslie, com- high-impact racing, that’s what sailing really needs to show- hard done by, as we sailed so well all week. But those are the petes during the fi nal on race Day 2 of the Bermuda SailGP event in Hamilton, Bermuda, on April 25. (AP) case itself as a really high-caliber sport,” Ainslie said. “As rules – you’ve got to win that last race. We knew it when we much as you want to make sure everybody’s safe, I’m really signed up, and we were close but not quite there.” judged his maneuver and slammed into the blue-hulled boat. aged American boat lost control and capsized. Both the US excited for the league and the sport that we can showcase In the fi rst of the Sunday’s two fl eet races, Team Japan The leeward shroud of the American boat cut into the star- and Japanese teams, which had been within range of reach- sailing in such a way. skipper Nathan Outteridge tried to cross in front of Jimmy board hull of the Japanese boat. ing the podium race, were forced to retire. “You need the action. That’s what spectators want to see. Spithill’s Team USA, which had right-of-way, but mis- Shortly after the F50 catamarans were separated, the dam- “It was obviously pretty unfortunate,” said Spithill, a There was plenty of action out there today, which was good.” Athletes to stay within a ‘bubble’ Keselowski claims 6th win More tests, no quarantine in Tokyo Games updated rules TOKYO, April 26, (AP): Tokyo barred, and organizers have put off Olympic organizers and the IOC until as late a June a decision on at Talladega with ‘OT’ pass are to unveil new plans this week having any fans at all at Olympic to explain how 15,400 Olympic and venues. Paralympic athletes can compete in Taro Kono, the minister in charge Japan when the games open in three of vaccination in Japan, suggested months in the midst of a pandemic. earlier this month that empty venues The rollout of the second edition was a probable option. of the so-called “Playbooks” - an IOC President Thomas Bach last IOC guidebook explaining how the week said his plans to meet the torch games can be pulled off - comes as relay in Hiroshima on May 17-18 Tokyo, Osaka and several other ar- are still not confi rmed. Bach’s arriv- eas have been placed under a third al would be just days after the latest state of emergency as coronavirus state of emergency ends on May 11. cases surge. Opposition lawmakers in Japan’s Japan, which has attributed about national legislature have suggested 10,000 deaths to COVID-19, has Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also been slow with local vaccina- scheduled the state of emergency to tion with about 1% so far getting accommodate Bach. shots. The government and the Inter- national Olympic Committee have OLYMPICS said the precautions are in place spe- cifi cally for Japan’s “Golden Week” holiday, which begins on Thursday. Organizers are expected to an- The torch relay, which began on nounce daily testing for athletes. March 25 in Fukushima in north- They are also expected to drop a eastern Japan, has been detoured 14-day quarantine requirement, al- several times this month and was lowing athletes to train when they forced to run in an empty city park arrive. Athletes will be required to in Osaka. It was also rerouted in stay within a “bubble” consisting of Matsuyama City Ehime prefecture. the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay, It will be banned altogether this and venues and training areas. weekend on the Okinawa island of Japan’s Kyodo news, citing un- Miyakojima. The small island has named sources, said athletes and only one hospital. The relay will run NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9), NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron (24), and NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (48) slide staff will have to be tested twice through other locations on Okinawa. through the infi eld as NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. (19) hits the outside wall during the Geico 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race at Tal- within 96 hours before leaving The heavily sponsored relay is a ladega Superspeedway, on April 25, in Talladega, Alabama. (AP) home. They will also be tested upon caravan of more than a dozen cars arrival in Japan. and other vehicles festooned with The Playbook for athletes is to be advertising from major sponsors Logano triggers last-lap crash updated on Wednesday, with Play- like Coca-Cola and Toyota. Torch books for media and others unveiled runners - there are 10,000 in total - TALLADEGA, Alabama, on Friday. A fi nal edition of all typically bring up the rear amid blar- April 26, (AP): Brad Kes- Playbooks will be published in June. ing music and banter from DJs. Herta ties father on IndyCar win list with 4 Resistance to the Olympics in The relay is scheduled to end at elowski made exactly the Japan is still running high with 70- the National Stadium on July 23 for right fi nal move this time, ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, April Herta raced to his fourth IndyCar faster cars - I learned more about the 80% opposed in recent polls. Fans the opening ceremony of the Tokyo winning again Superspeed- 26, (AP): Colton Herta went a solid victory to match the same total his sport and I was like ‘Hey, he actually from abroad have already been Games. eight years ignoring any advice father, Bryan, achieved over his own knows what he’s talking about.’” way and demonstrating a about racing cars that came from his 12-year career.