18 Established 1961 Sports Thursday, June 4, 2020

Photo of the Day Australia swim coach Verhaeren quits

SYDNEY: Australia’s head swimming coach Jacco Verhaeren quit yesterday, opting to return to his native Netherlands for family reasons after COVID-19 forced the postponement of this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Verhaeren had hoped to make a triumphant de- parture after leading Australia’s campaign in Japan, but decided against staying Down Under for an extra year to attend the rescheduled Games. “I tried to look for ways to extend, but you can’t compromise in a high performance environment, nor did I want to compromise my family,” the highly respected coach said in a statement re- leased by Swimming Australia. Verhaeren, 51, was appointed in 2013 after Aus- tralia’s poor results at the London Olympics a year earlier, a campaign marred by ill-discipline, drug use and drunkenness. At the time, he was best known best known for guiding Dutch greats Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn to Olympic success in Sydney and Athens. He helped restore Australia as a swimming su- perpower, with the squad finishing second only to the United States at the 2015 and 2019 world titles. “(He) has overseen significant change and devel- opment in a complex system, laying a strong foun- dation for future success,” Swimming Australia chief executive Leigh Russell said. She said Verhaeren was leaving with Swimming Australia’s best wishes and had decided “it is the right time to put family needs above anything else”. He will be replaced by Australian Rohan Double olympic gold medalist Roman Hagara performs during the first sailing session after lockdown in Austria on May 6, 2020. — Photo taken from www.red- Taylor, who is currently state coach for Victoria bullcontentpool.com and Tasmania. The pair will work together during a transition period before Verhaeren departs in September. — AFP Australia’s , greatest motorcycle racer of all time ‘Doohan used to go racing like there were demons chasing him’

SYDNEY: Mick Doohan dominated the top class tered his right leg. of motorcycle racing for half a decade at the end A hospital infection would have cost him the of the last century, wiping the floor with the com- limb had famed motorsports clinician Dr Claudio petition to win five consecutive 500cc world Costa not sewn it together with his left leg in a championships. revolutionary procedure that had the Australian Ice cool, brave, ultra-aggressive, dismissive of back on his bike four rounds later. pain and competitive to the point of mania, the The right leg was permanently damaged, how- Australian controlled the snorting, bucking power ever, and Doohan struggled in the 1993 season of the two-stroke 500cc until chief mechanic Je- machine like no one else. remy Burgess rigged up “Doohan was a driven rear brake control that man, to the scariest of could be triggered by his degrees, he used to go thumb rather than his foot. racing like there were Ice cool The first world title demons chasing him, and came in 1994 on the back if he ever slowed down, and brave of nine wins in 14 rounds they’d have him,” re- and he defended it in dom- spected motorcycling inant fashion over the fol- journalist Mat Oxley lowing two years. wrote of the Queenslan- He raised the standard der. “There was a ter- even higher in 1997 when rorised urgency to his riding, he forced the bike he won 12 of 15 races and finished second in two. down into corners, hunched over the front like The one blemish was at his home Australian some kind of desperado... Grand Prix when he and team mate Alex Criville “Who knows what drove him, but the inside of came together but he made amends the following a racer’s head is a strange place: weird forces driv- year when he clinched the fifth straight world title ing weird psyches to take weird risks.” at Phillip Island. Doohan, who started riding dirt bikes at the age He called it quits at the age of 34 after another of nine, was working as a swimming pool concreter serious crash in qualifying for the third round of and hanging out with Britain’s twice world cham- the 1999 season at Jerez left him with a broken leg, pion on the Gold Coast when a wrist and collarbone as well as muscle damage to Mick Doohan breakout season in Superbikes caught the eye of his back. . He joined the powerhouse team in 1989 and Doohan has since built a successful business quickly found his feet, looking set to win his career selling corporate jets and the motorsport promising driver in Formula 3. but, along with , Doohan would maiden world title in 1992 before a nasty crash world has perhaps not heard the last of the His retirement would be followed by eras of still have to be part of any conversation about the during practice for the Dutch TT at Assen shat- Doohan family with his 17-year-old son Jack a dominance for and Marc Marquez greatest road racer of all time. — Reuters

So the gratitude expressed towards Britain’s healthcare work- rage at the sight of such blatant disre- ITV racing frontman ers has an extra resonance for him. Hamilton gard for the lives of our people.” Ear- lier this week Hamilton lashed out at Chamberlin gears up ‘THRILL OF RACING’ ‘overcome leading figures in his “white-domi- Chamberlin, who moved from presenting Sky Sports’ Premier nated” sport for not speaking out. League coverage to fronting ITV Racing in 2017, believes the “I see those of you who are staying for return to action sport has a unique opportunity to attract new fans. with rage’ over silent, some of you the biggest of stars This is despite negative publicity around the Cheltenham Fes- yet you stay silent in the midst of injus- tice,” he said. LONDON: Racing presenter Ed Chamberlin will switch his mi- tival, which went ahead in March with 250,000 spectators, just before the shutdown. racial injustice It prompted several top drivers to crophone on in his spare room on Friday to launch three days of express outrage and support. On Tues- racing coverage as the sport edges back towards normality. “Cheltenham got unfair criticism, it garnered bad PR through no fault of its own,” he said. “We were following government pro- day issued its first re- Chamberlin is fronting ITV Racing’s coverage of three days of LONDON: Formula One world cham- sponse. “We stand with you, and all the sport behind closed doors, including the first two Classics of tocols. pion Lewis Hamilton said he is “com- “Cheltenham was made a scapegoat and it is sad as racing was people in the fight against racism,” a the flat season at Newmarket — the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas. pletely overcome with rage” about Formula One statement said. “It is an a national treasure a while ago. It was picked out when there He admits he will feel a mix of nervousness and excitement as racial injustice in the wake of the death evil that no sport or society is truly im- were concerts and other sports events being held.” he tries to strike the right chord after the coronavirus-enforced of George Floyd. mune from. Chamberlin believes the series of top racing events coming up suspension of action. It is the second time this week that “And it is only together we can op- could prove a turning point for the sport, especially with Premier Racing in Britain was suspended in mid-March before return- Britain’s six-time world champion has pose an eradicate it. Together we are ing at Newcastle, in northern England, on Monday. League football on hold until June 17. “It is a gilt-edged oppor- spoken angrily about the death of stronger.” Hamilton questioned why it “It is historic and a real challenge,” Chamberlin told AFP. tunity for our sport,” he said. “(Racehorse owner) Steve Parkin Floyd, an unarmed black man who died needed protests for the police officer “There is a job to be done, a balance to be struck with an under- put it best — ‘This is the best opportunity to sell the thrill of rac- on May 25 during an arrest in Min- who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more standing and sensitivity at what has happened. ing in a lifetime’.” neapolis. than eight minutes, Derek Chauvin, to “There will be people watching who have suffered, people who Chamberlin says there is an outside chance he and his team “This past week has been so dark. be arrested. have lost loved ones through these horrendous months. will be on site at Royal Ascot, which begins on June 16. But before I have failed to keep hold of my emo- “It is only when there are riots and “We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and have to be then he has to adapt to his new studio. He has had to sacrifice his tions,” Hamilton said in a statement screams for justice that the powers sensitive to get the tone right.” personally signed Southampton shirt for an ITV Racing backdrop posted Tuesday on his social media that be cave in and do something, but Chamberlin, 46, says his sleep has been disrupted as he comes and a photograph of his horse, Lord Rapscallion, winning in Ire- accounts. by then it is far too late and not enough to terms with the “huge responsibility” of returning to the screen. land in 2018. “I have felt so much anger, sadness has been done,” said Hamilton. “People will understand if there are a few glitches — there will Chamberlin is crossing his fingers that his two children do not and disbelief in what my eyes have “It took hundreds of thousands of be some nervous moments,” he said. wander in unannounced while he is on air. “Don’t rule it out,” he seen,” he continued, after days of people’s complaints and buildings to “My legs can be going at 100 miles an hour under the desk said. “We had an unsuccessful discussion about getting a red light protests that have gripped cities burn before officials reacted and de- but I will be calm above it.” and having it outside the spare room. across the US prompting curfews and cided to arrest Derek Chauvin for mur- Chamberlin’s love of racing kept him going through nine weeks “I am so spoilt on ITV. I have a make up artist, stylist and run- the use of force by law enforcement der, and that is sad. “Please do not sit of chemotherapy when, aged just 34, he was diagnosed with ners to get me tea.”So I might hire my son and pay him below the agencies. in silence, no matter the colour of your stomach cancer. minimum wage.” — AFP “I am completely overcome with skin. Black Lives Matter.” — AFP