MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016 SPORTS Phillips ready for BMX rollercoaster ride in Rio

LONDON: Former world BMX champi- four years ago having recovered from a wouldn’t last long in BMX racing to be contesting for gold. “It’s been a ble to ride a lap now. Before that was on Liam Phillips sums up the brutal broken collarbone just in time to take because he’s not the best starter-he little hit and miss to be honest,” Phillips, impossible.” Whatever the outcome in nature of his adrenaline-fuelled sport his place on the team. would be cut off straight away.” whose parents Pete and Sharon used to Rio, Phillips said he would soak up the succinctly. “There are not really any While BMX racing can look chaotic, drive their BMX-mad son to junior atmosphere. rules on physicality,” the 27-year-old it is an extremely technical sport and INSANE AND UNRIDEABLE events all over Europe in a converted “When I was a kid I would never Briton, preparing for a third Olympic the power produced by the world’s top While Bolt has a lane to himself, ter- truck, said. “It’s a difficult balancing have believed one day I would be rid- Games, says. “You can’t take your feet riders is similar to that put down by ritory is fiercely fought over in a BMX act. The injury risk is quite high in BMX. ing my BMX bike in the Olympics,” he off the pedals and kick somebody but track sprinters like Chris Hoy, Britain’s race. “Someone can come underneath I didn’t need to win any races because said. “So I’m just grateful I will be riding after that pretty much anything can most successful Olympian. you in a corner, an elbow can catch my Olympic spot was guaranteed. I was in front of huge audiences. “I just love happen.” For sheer intensity, thrills and Phillips said the start is crucial. “You you, suddenly you’re on the floor,” racing at 99 percent rather than 100 racing.” Varnish, who was dropped from spills, the BMX races on the rollercoast- are basically eight metres up, lined up Phillips said. “Nine times out of 10 it percent and it showed.” the British team after failing to qualify er-like Deodoro course at next month’s with seven other guys and then you stays on the track. There is a mutual Phillips, boyfriend of track cyclist for the team sprint for Rio, will not be in Rio Olympics will have no equal. go,” Phillips told Reuters. “It’s a bit like respect, but I’ll make myself heard Jess Varnish, whose omission from the Brazil. Phillips describes her treatment When the starting gate goes down, a 100m sprint but there are no lanes. when I need to.” Phillips won the world British team ignited a controversy that as a “massive injustice” and said he was riders will plunge eight metres down, It’s a fight to get to the first corner, championships in 2013 in New Zealand led to team chief Shane Sutton quit- looking forward to the findings of an pumping their pedals for rapid acceler- then after that you can move to the and last year became the first man to ting, said the Deodoro track in Rio independent review into British Cycling. ation, then hanging on over the lumps best line and dictate a little bit. win back-to-back UCI BMX Supercross would be technically challenging, but “As a member of the team I’m welcom- and bumps. “After that it’s about staying as World Cup titles. This year has been a hopefully safe. “It was unrideable ing the review because changes need Medal hopes can vanish in the blink smooth as possible. “If you make a bad little disappointing, although every- when we first went out there, some of to be made,” he said. “There are still of an eye-as Phillips knows all to well start, and I’m talking fractions of sec- thing has been focussed on Rio where the jumps were dangerous. It was people working there that aren’t in it after crashing in the final in London onds out, you’re in trouble. Usain Bolt he will be one of six riders he expects insane,” he said. “But at least it’s possi- for the right reasons.” — Reuters

Sole Cypriot medalist sets sail for Rio

LIMASSOL: tightened the in his nation of 800,000 people, where zip of his wetsuit with hands dried and cal- world-class athletes are rare. Advertising loused by rope and sea salt. It is part of a companies fought over his image and ritual that takes the only Cypriot Olympic has even issued a postage stamp medal winner 30 minutes as he gets his bearing his face. Laser dinghy ready for the Mediterranean “People can recognise me now, when winds. It is part of a ritual the 26-year-old they see me on the street they sometimes Kontides has become obsessed with as he stop me to have a picture with me or an seeks to upgrade his silver medal from autograph, and that’s something that really London 2012 to a gold in Rio. motivates me.” With backing from his fami- He spends his time between sailing ly and an handful of corporate sponsors, he competitions perfecting his technique in will head to the Rio Olympics as part of a the waters off , his home town on small team of Cypriot athletes with every- the south coast of Cyprus. thing to play for. The athlete is in his element leaning his If he comes first in his class, Kontides will 1.8-metre (six-foot) frame out from the hull become the island’s first son to win an of his Laser as it skims across the foam. Olympic race since antiquity. Kontides began sailing at the age of nine. Fourth-century historian Eusebius He likens the discipline needed to master records that in 180 BC, an athlete from the arts of tacking and reading the wind to Salamis, a Greek city-state in eastern riding a bike and playing chess at the same Cyprus, won the Olympic stadion race-a time. “When you are out there, you have 600-foot (180-metre) naked sprint. “Pavlos freedom, you just switch off from the world actually proved that it’s possible,” said Olga and you’re by yourself, against the water Piperidou Chrysaphy, director general of and against your opponent,” he said. the Cyprus Olympic Committee. “Although we are a small country it is possible to FACE ON A STAMP achieve a medal.” It was on August 6, 2012 that Kontides reached the summit of his career so far, ‘ROLE MODEL’ winning a silver medal in the men’s Laser Kontides’s success in London has NEW : In this photograph taken on May 18, 2016, Indian boxer Rohit Tokas (R) takes a short break and listens to his coach Naveen Tokas as race near Weymouth on the south coast of already given Cypriot national pride a he stands in a concrete boxing ring during a morning training session in the grounds of the Baba Gang Nath sporting academy located at a England. “I have those pictures and those boost and prompted the government to Hindu temple in . In an old ring on a dusty field, ’s elite boxers are hard at work, hopeful of one day ending the country’s dismal memories in the back of my head,” he said. pump money into sailing. Cypriot subsidies Olympic medal record blamed partly on poor training facilities. — AFP “I can see the Cypriot flag waving in the for sport, already meagre, were hit hard by wind, the sunlight... everything was in slow a financial crisis in 2013. But since 2012, the motion,” he added. “It made me feel so spe- number of people holding sailing licences cial, it was something that is very hard to has jumped by more than 25 percent to Medal-deprived India describe with words.” 400. Kontides regularly meets local sailors Kontides became an overnight celebrity to give advice. — AFP Hammer in hot pursuit of battles poor facilities first track gold for US NEW DELHI: In an old ring on a dusty field number is the highest ever,” the spokesperson who missed out on a Rio berth, told AFP on con- India’s elite boxers are hard at work, hoping to told AFP. Concerns over facilities were highlight- dition of anonymity. Despite a lack of resources, BOSTON: When she walks into Rio de The two-time Olympian snagged two silver one day end the country’s dismal Olympic medal ed at the track and field Indian Grand Prix in those at Baba Gang Nath are finding ways of Janeiro’s velodrome in August as the best medals at the 2012 London Games, in team record, despite the sub-standard training facili- Delhi in April when athletes trying to qualify for forging on. “I understand there is a big difference hope to lead the US women’s pursuit and the women’s . Then ties. Rohit Tokas and other national-level boxers Rio were hit with a power cut. in our training and how the foreign athletes pre- team to its first Olympic gold medal, Sarah last March she led the U.S. squad to its first at a temple complex in bustling New Delhi have Organisers were forced to use hand-held pare, but I keep abreast with modern methods Hammer will be acutely aware she might gold medal in women’s team pursuit at the long used the outdoor ring, but only in the early clocks to record performances after digital through the internet,” Rahul Rathi, another easily never have seen that moment. world track cycling championships in mornings and late afternoons when the swelter- timers and wind gauges were put out of action. national boxer, told AFP. The 32-year-old Californian found her London. “London was a huge boost for us,” ing heat eases. After failing to qualify for the But without electronic recordings or official Coach Naveen Tokas said inspiring his young sport early-she received her first racing bike Hammer said. “It showed us that everything Olympics during a test event in Rio, Tokas is wind speeds, the times could not be officially charges was just as important as desperately for her ninth birthday-but by the age of 20 we’re doing is right on track.” Hammer will among those convinced India need to overhaul classified for Olympic qualification, meaning ath- needed new equipment. was burned out, and decided in 2003 to be racing at Rio’s with the their training centres if they are to have any letes had to try again at a subsequent meeing. “We tell stories to our students about star retire from racing after just two years com- same five-member team that bested hope of improving their dire medal count. “The At other qualifying sessions at the same pre- boxers like Vijender Singh, his struggles and rise peting at the elite level. The next summer, Canada in London, riding alongside Kelly main thing is to have better facilities,” said the mier Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, runners com- from a humble background,” Tokas said of Singh, while watching the Athens Games on tele- Catlin, Chloe Dygert, and lightweight boxer who works out with rusted plained that air pollution was hampering their from a poor family in rural India, who rose to win vision at her apartment in Colorado . Hammer will be the only dumbbells in a dingy weights room. “What I saw efforts. “The air got us breathless and even the Olympic bronze in Beijing and has since turned Springs, she came to deeply regret that returning Olympian on the pursuit team. in Rio was an eye opener. The way they facilities out here weren’t great,” a top athlete, professional. —AFP decision. “I was thinking, ‘Oh wow, this is The team is up against stiff competition, approach their training is totally different from what I missed. I love track racing and this is with Hammer reckoning that the British, how we go about our routine drills,” he told AFP. what I missed ... I just kind of threw it away’,” Canadian, Australian and New Zealand “Their diet and thinking is very different to us.” she recalled thinking as she watched New teams are all threats for podium spots. The privately funded Baba Gang Nath acade- India’s Rio-bound wrestler Zealand’s claim the gold Once the team event is done, Hammer my is packed with boxers, wrestlers, and judo medal in the women’s 3,000 metres individ- plans to race the multi-event Omnium as and volleyball players all determined to repre- Yadav fails doping test ual pursuit in world-record time. well. “The big goal is that team pursuit sent India. But Indian Olympic Association sec- “At that point in time, I decided to come medal,” Hammer said. “I’d love to get anoth- retary Rajeev Mehta said the government is not : Indian wrestler Narsingh Yadav, “The disciplinary panel has sought more back and do it, do it right, that I was going er medal in the individual as well.” The committed to spending on improving facilities who was set to compete in the 74kg details on the case,” he said. “It’s too early to to do it differently,” said Hammer, who has knowledge that she could have missed any to help develop future stars. freestyle category at the Rio Olympics, has determine how much time they will take to held that very world record since 2010. For chance at Olympic glory, let alone three Obsessed with cricket, the world’s second- tested positive for a banned steroid, the come out with a verdict. Hammer, who began racing neighbour- trips to the Games, keeps Hammer going most populous nation has a total of just 26 national anti-doping agency (NADA) told “But I would say we should know in a hood friends on BMX bikes long before her through the hardest phases of training and medals from 23 Olympic appearances. “Our Reuters yesterday. Both of the 26-year-old’s week.” Yadav, who could not immediately be father, Cliff, bought her that first Peugeot racing, she said. There are many days like sports suffer from lack of infrastructure. We samples from an out-of-competition test reached for comment, took India’s berth in 10-speed, and went on to win her first jun- that for an athlete who is more than a stand nowhere in comparison to America, China, returned positive and the wrestler has the 74kg category at the Rio Games by win- ior national championship in 1995 at the decade older than her team mates. “Now Britain, Holland,” Mehta told AFP. The sports attended a hearing to present his case ning a bronze medal at last year’s World age of 12, that meant leaving road cycling the name of the game is really recovery for ministry has set a target of 10 medals in Rio after before an anti-doping disciplinary panel on Championships in Las Vegas. behind her. me,” Hammer said. athletes brought home a modest but record Saturday. The panel had asked NADA for fur- However, his spot was put in jeopardy “For many years, people said I was doing “I have one teenage team mate and oth- haul of six from London. The government hailed ther details and should return with a verdict when , who won a bronze in the it wrong,” Hammer said in a phone inter- ers that are in their early 20s. In training, we the 2012 tally as a success, but some dismissed it within one week, NADA Director General 66kg category in Beijing and a silver in view during a break from training earlier do everything together, and then they say as embarrassingly low for a country that has Navin Agarwal said by telephone. London, moved up in weight and asked Delhi this year. “Now we are all specialists. People goodbye and get on with the rest of their enjoyed two decades of rapid economic devel- “Narsingh was surprised with the positive High Court to order a bout between the pair still obviously do road racing, but you do it days and I have another hour of work so opment and has a booming population of 1.25 result,” Agarwal said. “He kept on saying, ‘why to determine who should compete in Rio. for the track.” that I can show up the next day ready to billion. would I volunteer for a test if I knew I had tak- Last month the court ruled against Kumar, Hammer’s results have proven her right: train.” — Reuters en something illegal?” the only Indian athlete to win two individual MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Agarwal said it was too early to say if Olympic medals, clearing the way for Yadav Mehta said even India’s highly celebrated Yadav’s Rio hopes are over. to compete in Rio. — Reuters hockey team was suffering. A lack of internation- al-standard facilities has stopped talented youngsters from rising through the ranks to vie for a place on the national squad. “There are a number of stadiums which do not have an astro- turf or even an indoor stadium. So in such a sce- nario if we expect a good medal haul then it’s impossible,” Mehta said. Mehta pointed to hockey masters the Netherlands who have 1,300 astroturf grounds in a country of 17 million people. “Now compare it to India where we have just 87 astroturfs out of which 13 to 14 are not functional.” India’s hockey team, which once dominated the Olympics with eight golds, the last of which was in Moscow in 1980, finished last in London- although a silver in the recent prestigious Champions Trophy has raised hopes. A sports ministry spokesman said the government was doing more for its athletes “than ever before” including boosting spending on infrastructure. A VANTAA: In this photograph taken on May 4, 2012, India’s Narsingh Pancham Yadav cele- record number of athletes, more than 100, are brates after winning the men’s 74kg freestyle weight class during the Vantaa heading to Rio. “We have already spent about Cup 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament’s finals in Vantaa. Indian wrestler Narsingh 120 crore ($1.2 billion) on Rio preparations. The Yadav has failed a drugs test, the country’s anti-doping agency said yesterday.— AFP Sarah Hammer result of all these efforts is that the qualification