Sports FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 42 Los Angeles bid is ‘new start’ for all, says LA mayor BERLIN: Los Angeles’ 2024 summer with the International Olympic and Hungarian capital Budapest have so infrastructure investment as well as its Olympics bid will be a new start for the Committee President Thomas Bach at far also announced their candidacies. financial clout along with its diverse United States as it attempts to land the the Olympic body’s headquarters in The deadline for bids is Sept. 15. The population where “over 200 languages first summer Games since 1996 and put Lausanne yesterday. The meeting took United States have bid before with are spoken” as bid assets. “Everyone can the disappointment of Boston’s failed place less than 48 hours after Garcetti’s Chicago and New York failing in previ- feel at home. Every athlete has a home effort behind it, the city’s mayor said announcement in Los Angeles of the ous attempts before the latest Boston advantage,” Garcetti said following the yesterday. candidacy to bring the Games back to debacle. Garcetti said the short prepara- meeting which also included USOC chief The United States Olympic the sprawling Californian metropolis on tion time after Boston’s surprise with- Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun. Committee (USOC), which had picked the Pacific ocean for a third time after drawal on July 28, had not affected “We had the chance to express the Boston over Los Angeles, San Francisco 1932 and 1984. “It was important for us plans for the bid. excitement and enthusiasm of being the and Washington earlier this year, was to show that Los Angeles, at the begin- “LA is not our first dance. We under- official U.S. bid city for 2024. Los Angeles under mounting pressure to deliver an ning of this contest, has thought our bid stand not only how to compete and win has benefited greatly from our involve- American bid after the Massachusetts through,” Garcetti said. “Any campaign the Olympics but also how to run them,” ment with the Olympic movement and capital pulled out in late July over finan- is about relationships,” he added, prefer- he said, adding the city had some 85 vice versa,” said Garcetti. “I think it’s time cial concerns. ring a “face-to-face” meeting with the percent of the venues ready or under for America to bring the Olympics back “This is a brand new start for every- IOC President, whose organisation will planned construction regardless of the home. The United States love the body,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti elect the winner in 2017. Games. Olympics and the Olympics loves the told a conference call after a meeting Rome, Paris, Germany’s Hamburg He also highlighted the city’s current United states.” — Reuters Wales mix things up for final World Cup warm-up LONDON: Wales coach Warren Gatland has mixed up his team for their final World Cup warm up against Italy in Cardiff tomorrow, with Sam Warburton returning to captain the side as part of a new-look back row. Warburton, who sat out last week’s victory over Ireland in Dublin with a shoulder injury, is back at number seven alongside James King and number eight Taulupe Faletau. Jake Ball and Dominic Day start in the second row, with the front row of Gethin Jenkins, Ken Owens and Tomas Francis unchanged from Dublin. Halfbacks Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar continue their partnership while there is a new look midfield with Scott Williams lining up alongside Cory Allen. The back-three from Dublin also remains unchanged with George North and Alex Cuthbert on the wings and Leigh Halfpenny at fullback. “With our opening Rugby World Cup fixture just two MONZA: Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, left, is flanked by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany during a weeks away, this weekend is an important run-out news conference at the Monza racetrack, in Monza, Italy, yesterday. The Formula one race will be held on Sunday. — AP and an opportunity for fine tuning, said Gatland. “We were happy with the performance away Vettel puts Pirelli row from home in Ireland last weekend, but there are plenty of things we need to work on from that vic- tory so we will be looking to put those in place on Saturday. behind him, for now “We’ve made a couple of changes to try a few new combinations and ensure players get some MONZA: Sebastian Vettel put his row with questions during a pre-race news conference tions made by the tyre supplier for the Italian more game time under their belts.” Pirelli behind him, at least for now, yesterday ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, the GP and for the remainder of the season.” Wales kick off their World Cup campaign against after the Italian rubber company released the fastest race of the season. “I said in Belgium Uruguay in Cardiff on Sept. 20. findings of its investigation into the cause of that it was not acceptable to have a blow-out Demanding his high-speed tyre failure during last month’s at that speed just out of the blue,” said Vettel, Pirelli said: “Tests have shown that the fail- Wales team: Belgian Grand Prix. The four-time world cham- who was running third when he suffered his ures at Spa were down to the exceptional com- 15-Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), 14-Alex Cuthbert pion, who suffered a spectacular puncture on puncture. “But this is on-going and now the bined effect of debris on the track and pro- (Cardiff Blues), 13-Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), 12- the penultimate lap as he tried to exploit most important thing is to make progress. longed tyre usage on a circuit that is particularly Scott Williams (Scarlets), 11-George North Ferrari’s one-stop strategy, said Pirelli had Pirelli have been very professional and taken demanding.” It added: “Since the start of 2015, (Northampton), 10-Dan Biggar (Ospreys), 9-Rhys done a very professional job, adding that he great care and this is going the right way.” He 13,748 slick tyres have been used, including on Webb (Ospreys); 8-Taulupe Faletau (Newport was satisfied and it was now time “to move added that after discussions with Pirelli he was especially severe tracks like Sepang, Barcelona Gwent Dragons).7-Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, forward”. Fellow-German Nico Rosberg of expecting to run with reduced tyre pressure and Silverstone. No problems have ever been Mercedes, who also suffered a high-speed and a change to the camber of his tyres in this discovered, underlining the fundamental solidi- captain), 6-James King (Ospreys), 5-Dominic Day puncture, said he was confident that Pirelli had weekend’s event. ty of the product.” Pirelli added that due to the (Bath), 4-Jake Ball (Scarlets), 3-Tomas Francis (Exeter done what was necessary. “This has been “It’s one thing, this is for the short-term,” he “the exceptional number of cuts to the tyres” Chiefs), 2-Ken Owens (Scarlets), 1-Gethin Jenkins done with extreme precision and a lot of ener- explained. “But I think that long-term, we really found after qualifying, in Belgium, it asked for (Cardiff Blues). gy has gone into it,” he said. need to understand what has happened.” the circuit to be cleaned and now proposes “a Replacements: 16-Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), Pirelli said the spate of tyre failures was due Both the sport’s ruling body, the International study to evaluate the way in which circuits can 17-Paul James (Ospreys), 18-Aaron Jarvis to “exceptional circumstances” and said it had Motoring Federation (FIA) and Pirelli issued be cleaned most effectively.” It added, in a pas- (Ospreys), 19-Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), 20- recorded 63 cuts in tyres at Spa- statements yesterday as the F1 circus gathered sage that pointed to Ferrari’s risky strategy, also Ross Moriarty (Gloucester), 21-Gareth Davies Francorchamps, compared to an average of in a crowded paddock at Monza. The FIA said it that Vettel had only 30 per cent of his tread (Scarlets), 22-Rhys Priestland (Bath), 23Matthew 1.2 cuts per circuit at the previous 15 events. was “satisfied with the thoroughness” of the remaining on his tyre at the time of his punc- Morgan (Bristol). — Reuters Both drivers maintained their position, with Pirelli probe and the conclusions and that it “is ture, “making it more susceptible to damage some reservations, when answering a series of willing to consider any safety recommenda- from small pieces of debris.” — AFP.