MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015 SPORTS

INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez, of Spain, passes under Alvaro Bautista, of Spain, during the third practice Indianapolis Grand Prix motorcycle race. —AP Marquez takes pole for Indy race

INDIANAPOLIS: Two-time world champion Marquez said he was happy with Saturday’s poles in this event. In ten MotoGP outings this Season points leader Valentino Rossi of Rins qualified in 1:36.549. Joining Rins in the Marc Marquez claimed pole position for late performance. “Looks like here we are able to season he’s won five poles. During his MotoGP Yamaha qualified eighth Saturday, which ties first row will be two more Kalex riders, Tito yesterday’s Indianapolis MotoGP in qualifying be fast,” he added. “The key of the race, I think career, Marquez has 27 poles in 47 races. his lowest qualifying spot of the season. In Rabat of Spain and Mika Kallio of Finland. Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. on the last laps everybody will be struggling Spanish riders will have the front row for late Moto3, Danny Kent of Honda grabbed the Rabat’s time was 1:36.686. Kallio, who won this The 22-year-old Spaniard, riding for the with rear grip. “But we will try to do our best yesterday’s race. pole position with a qualifying time of race in 2014, qualified with a 1:36.865 lap. Repsol Honda Team, posted the quickest time and try to be there ready for a fight. So tomor- Dani Pedrosa, Marquez’s Honda teammate, 1:40.703. Miguel Oliveira of Portugal and “I knew I needed to push a little bit more with a lap in 1min 31.884secs. Marquez, unde- row will be an interesting race.” Counting 2011 posted the day’s second-fastest qualifying Zulfahmi Khairuddin of Malaysia will round to make a difference,” said Rins. “It’s impor- feated in MotoGP competition on US soil, will and 2012 wins in Moto2, he’s in line for a fifth time of 1:32.055 while Jorge Lorenzo of out the front row.Moto2 qualifying capped tant to be on the pole because in this series, seek a third consecutive victory in the eight- win at the famed IndyCar circuit. Marquez Yamaha starts in the third position after a Saturday’s action, with another Spaniard win- it’s very competitive. I expect a good race year-old Indianapolis event. became the first man to win three consecutive qualifying run of 1:32.186. ning the pole. Riding a Kalex, 19-year-old Alex (tomorrow).” —AFP Doping claims threaten livelihoods in Kenya

ITEN: The athletes who pound the dirt trails snaking through Kenya’s lush Rift Valley region have spawned a local industry around their tal- ent and forged a reputation as the world’s finest long-distance runners. But explosive media claims of widespread doping in their ranks, including allegations against Kenya’s Olympic medal winners, have cast a shadow over a sport that many in this impoverished region see as a ticket to wealth and stardom. Kenyan athletics chiefs have dismissed the doping claims as a “smear campaign”, yet coach- es and runners have warned that the east African nation needs to face up to the problem if it is to protect its rich running legacy and lucra- tive sponsorship deals. “It worries everyone. Not (just) athletes, even their families,” said Moses Kiptanui, 44, a three- time world steeplechase champion who in 2013 became the first high-profile athlete to warn that Kenya faced a doping problem. “Their earnings will come down and nobody will want to put money in sponsorship,” said Kiptanui, a son of subsistence farmers who used his athletics earnings in the 1990s to build hefty dairy and maize businesses. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper and German broadcaster ARD/WDR last weekend said they had been leaked suspicious blood results from more than 800 athletes, including 77 Kenyans. The Sunday Times alleged that athletes who won a fifth of Kenya’s 92 Olympic and world Late Chase show championship medals between 2001-2012 had suspicious blood results. An ARD/WDR documentary aired on Saturday gives Salford victory showed a hidden camera purportedly revealing Kenyan athletes being injected with perform- LONDON: Rangi Chase took control of club from St George Illawarra last ance-enhancing drugs. It also alleged that cor- proceedings late on to lead Salford Red month, was fed by Rhys Hanbury, rupt Athletics Kenya (AK) officials had covered Devils to a nail-biting victory over though the conversion was missed. up failed tests. Wakefield Wildcats at the AJ Bell It took until the 77th minute for Kenya’s London Marathon winners Wilson Stadium. Widnes to add to that score, Alex Kipsang and Eliud Kipchoge this week pleaded In the only all- clash of Gerrard barging over to effectively put with athletics fans across the globe to keep faith opening weekend, the for- the game beyond doubt. in them, saying top Kenyan runners were “clean”. mer St George Illawarra Dragons play- And the result was secured Yet others conceded a cloud of suspicion now maker provided the late spark that Runciman’s second try of the afternoon hangs above them all. “If someone now wins a earned the hosts a 34-26 triumph. just a minute later, Hanbury and Danny race, in their minds (people) are always saying Josh Griffin put Salford ahead after 11 Galea linking up before feeding the new ‘athletes of Kenya are using drugs’, which is not minutes when he raced from inside his boy to score. good,” said Lucas Rotich, winner of the Hamburg Marathon in Germany. own half to touch down, before dou- are top of the Qualifiers In the last three years 33 Kenyans have failed bling his tally for the afternoon soon standings after one round, following a drugs tests but only Rita Jeptoo, winner of after. 42-10 thrashing of on Boston and Chicago Marathons, can be classed His namesake George made it three home soil. Lee Gaskell marked his injury as a top runner. Her two-year ban in January unanswered tries but Jacob Miller hit return with a hat-trick, having sat out shocked Kenya’s athletes as it showed doping back for the visitors on the stroke of half- the last eight matches while nursing a was not restricted to low-level runners seeking time to leave it 16-6 at the break. broken jaw. get-rich-quick schemes. Moses Kiptanui Miller’s second reduced the deficit The stand-off helped create two early Like many others training Kenyans, Dutch soon after half-time and Danny tries for winger Danny Williams, while coach Hugo van den Broek resents the way unscrupulous doctors and pharmacists for dop- needs more help from the government, includ- Washbrook’s score on 50 minutes edged Gaskell got his first and Jay Pitts also drugs cheats have stolen the limelight from the ing, saying they target desperate athletes seek- ing in educating runners and building a blood Wakefield ahead for the first time. scored on his 150th career appearance. jaw-dropping talent in Iten, a small town which ing overnight riches. AK had also banned two testing lab. The advantage see-sawed again Former Cronulla Sharks man Misi has become Kenya’s running centre and a global foreign coaches. “The name of Kenya has been put on the map when Australian Cory Paterson crossed Taulapapa hit back for Sheffield but athletics hub. “Four or five years ago I used to But athletes and coaches in Iten say AK ought of the world as a result of our runners, so defi- over for Salford, only for Reece Lyne to Adam Henry soon crossed over for believe there was no such thing as doping (in to shoulder some of the blame as its blanket nitely resources must be put into this,” added capitalise on a loose Chase pass to score. Bradford’s fifth. Gaskell completed his Kenya),” he said. “I’ve come to realize that it’s denials and inaction have helped no one. Korir, who said AK was unsure if criminalising A Lee Smith penalty made it 26-22 to the treble after the break, while James Clare there and I just hope, and still kind of believe, Kipsang, who won silver at the London Olympics doping would help curb the problem. Wildcats after 66 minutes but a superb added another for Bradford late on and there are not many real top athletes involved.” and hosts runners in his Iten-based hotel, said A government task force last year started length-of-the-field try by Chase wrestled Menzie Yere scored a late consolation try AK has fallen short in “creating awareness and investigating doping in Kenya but AK refused to making sure control measures” were in place to cooperate. The police have also questioned top back the advantage for the hosts. And for the Eagles. “DODGING THE TRUTH” stop cheats. AK officials about why they made personal with- the half-back’s late grubber kick found Hull KR recovered from a half-time Perched on a Rift Valley escarpment 8,000 feet above sea level, Iten regularly hosts foreign “It’s high time AK stands up and tells Kenyans drawals from a bank account where Nike had Michael Dobson, who fed Paterson to deficit to open their Qualifiers campaign Olympians such as Mo Farah, who cross conti- the truth about (doping). They have been dodg- deposited sponsorship money. cross over and put the game to bed. with a 36-26 victory at . nents to train with Kenya’s elite runners. British, ing the truth for long, which has seen them give When former athlete Kiptanui, considered a Elsewhere, had to Dane Chisholm-on loan from Canterbury Chinese and Dutch national teams also prepared foreigners fodder to tarnish Kenya,” added Silas running great in Kenya, started raising alarm work hard to see off Championship out- Bulldogs-crossed over early on to put for the London Olympics in Iten’s high-altitude Kiplagat, who won 1500m silver at the 2011 bells about drugs cheats, AK officials accused fit Halifax, with a pair of late tries adding the Robins ahead, only for four first-half training camps. world championships. him of soiling Kenya’s reputation and attacked a touch of gloss to the scoreline. With Centurions tries to give them a serious Some Kenyans fear well-heeled foreign ath- AK has denied corruption allegations and him by insinuating he may have also used drugs. the score locked at 0-0 at half-time, the scare. However, five unanswered tries- letes may now avoid Iten due to persistent dop- said the latest doping claims were an effort to “Many Kenyans are clean, it’s some few individu- Vikings finally broke the deadlock on 49 including scores for former NRL duo ing claims, a major threat for hotels, camps and destabilise Kenyan athletes ahead of this als that need to be exposed. But if you don’t minutes through debutant Charly and Tony Puletua-wrestled other job-yielding businesses built around run- month’s world championships in Beijing. expose them, then (how) do we know who is Runciman. back control, with kick- ning. Barnaba Korir, AK’s Nairobi branch chairman, clean and who is not clean. Nobody knows,” The Australian flyer, who joined the ing six goals from the tee.—AFP Athletics Kenya has in the past blamed said the body has tackled doping seriously but Kiptanui said. —Reuters