Category Archives: Australia sport

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Naomi Osaka lights cauldron at opening ceremony – live!

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Get up to speed with all the big questions with Simon Burnton’s Olympic primer:

Related: Tokyo 2020 – all your key Olympic questions answered

Some cycling news: the men’s road race takes place at 3am BST, 11am local time on Saturday, but one man who won’t be at the start line is Simon Geschke, after the German rider tested positive for Covid-19.

Geschke, who was set to be part of a four-man German team, had been staying away from the Olympic village with a group of other cyclists, all of who have initially tested negative for Covid.

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Michael Vaughan says England players may not make Ashes tour if families are barred

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  • Former Test captain warns of potentially farcical series
  • Calls on Australian government to issue travel exemptions

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has warned that the upcoming Ashes series in Australia could descend into farce if the families of England players are not allowed into the country.

With the visiting team facing a gruelling months-long schedule likely to be subject to a host of pandemic-related restrictions, Vaughan said some players may choose not to make the trip if they cannot see their loved ones for such a long time.

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Confident Brisbane eagerly awaits its time to shine as host of the 2032 Olympics

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The Queensland capital wants the world to know how far it has come, with the IOC set to confirm winning Olympic Games bid on Wednesday

The last time Brisbane bid to host the Olympic Games, many locals still referred to the place as “a big country town”.

The Queensland capital’s opponents to host the 1992 games argued the city was too small and unknown. There are few similar doubts this time around, as Brisbane is set to be anointed host of the 2032 Olympics.

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Geoffrey Edelsten, high profile former doctor and one-time Sydney Swans owner, dies at 78

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Edelsten was known for his flashy lifestyle, young wives and a series of brushes with the legal system that included a stint in jail

Geoffrey Edelsten, who made a name for himself as a flashy doctor, helped save AFL team the Sydney Swans from extinction and had a string of young wives, has died aged 78.

Edelsten died on Friday at his home in Melbourne, the ABC and local media reported.

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Fiji’s Silktails sang from balconies for hotel – and for Australian rugby league | Patrick Skene

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The team whose quarantine serenade went viral are playing the long game to the NRL promised land

Before the Kaiviti Silktails rugby league team finished their Covid-19 quarantine they had become worldwide heroes. Individually singing from 35 Juliet balconies in the Sydney Sofitel Hotel, they serenaded the world with three gospel hymns, going viral with more than million hits and delivering a Fiji-style thank you to the staff and guards who had nursed them to the promised land.

Their joyous gratitude was a refreshing contrast with the complaints and social media moping of other quarantined athletes, and announced the arrival of something unique.

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YouTube stardom to the Olympics? Singer Cody Simpson’s unlikely bid to compete at Games

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  • Australian to go up against likes of Kyle Chalmers at nationals
  • Simpson two seconds off Olympic trials pace in 100m butterfly

Teenybopper poster boy Cody Simpson will be among Australia’s top swimmers at next month’s national championships as he hones his 100m butterfly before June’s Olympic trials.

The junior swimmer turned international singer has taken another key step in his quest to make it in the pool by entering the Australian titles on the Gold Coast, where he will attempt to shave whole seconds from his personal best in his unlikely bid to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

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Australian Open 2021 day nine: Hsieh Su-wei v Naomi Osaka – live!

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First set: Hsieh Su-wei 1-2 Naomi Osaka* (denotes server) Osaka holds again without too much ado, to love, and we’re still on serve early on this opening set. Remember, Osaka has the edge on head-to-heads: the Japanese leads 4-1 in the pair’s previous five meetings. But, the results mask how close those matches were.

First set: Hsieh Su-wei* 1-1 Naomi Osaka (denotes server) Hsieh, who has never before been this deep at a grand slam, is known for her unpredictability and she throws up a bit of funky stuff on her first service game today. All good for the Tawainese so far.

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Australian Open gets green light for 30,000 a day as WA loosens border restrictions

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WA premier Mark McGowan says travellers from Queensland and Victoria will no longer have to quarantine upon arrival

Crowds at this year’s Australian Open will be capped at half the pre-Covid average, after Victoria’s top health official signed off on allowing up to 30,000 spectators to attend the start of the tournament next month.

On Saturday, Victoria’s sports minister, Martin Pakula, confirmed the government had agreed to a plan that would allow daily crowd capacity of 30,000 for the first eight days of the tournament, reducing to 25,000 per day from the start of the tournament quarter-finals.

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Japan dismisses ‘categorically untrue’ stories that Tokyo Olympics are doomed

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  • Sources at IOC adamant Games will go ahead in July
  • Country has surge in Covid cases centred on capital

The Japanese government has vehemently denied a story that it has privately concluded that this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo are doomed, calling them “categorically untrue”.

Sources at the International Olympic Committee have also told the Guardian that they are still planning for a “full Games” in July, despite the spiralling number of Covid-19 cases in Japan and across the globe. They also dismissed a Times report that said that government officials had resigned themselves to cancelling the Olympics and were instead hoping a wave of sympathy would help Tokyo secure the 2032 Games.

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Olympic athletes and officials ponder vaccine dilemma as Tokyo Games loom | Kieran Pender

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With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging, Olympians wonder whether they will – and should – be vaccinated in time for the Games

Steve Solomon, a 400-metre sprinter and co-captain of the Australian athletics team, has plenty to think about. The postponed 2020 Olympics are now just six months away and, barring a Covid-19 outbreak in Australia, Solomon will compete in the national championships in April before beginning final preparations for Tokyo. But there is one thing that the sprinter insists is not front of mind for him and his teammates: the coronavirus vaccine. “Everyone is just focused on making sure we are physically and mentally ready for the Games,” he said.

Solomon’s thoughts may be elsewhere, but plenty within the Olympic movement in Australia and overseas are pre-occupied with how the world’s biggest sporting event can take place safely in the midst of a pandemic. The Games are scheduled to begin on 23 July; the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government insist it will go ahead, despite a recent spike in cases in Tokyo. If the Olympics are to proceed, the vaccine offers a potential solution.

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Coronavirus Australia live: Victoria, NSW and Queensland record no local Covid cases as three new cases linked to Australian Open

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Two tennis players have tested positive, but hard lockdown of those who shared flights remains. Follow latest updates

  • NSW hotspots; Queensland hotspots
  • State-by-state restrictions and lockdown rules explained
  • Follow the global coronavirus liveblog

    • As our West Australian readers start to log-on, I bring to you news of possible secession. I have not clicked through to see what other images/tweets etc come up under #WAXIT but please feel free to do so:

    A group of business leaders in Western Australia want the state to break away from Australia… calling the campaign #WAXIT.

    Should WA be allowed to break away and form an independent nation? #9News pic.twitter.com/mtStO3Ayzh

    A $7bn funding injection into social housing would address surging homelessness caused by the pandemic, advocates say.

    This just in from AAP:

    Social housing advocates fear a surge in homelessness stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, and are urging swift action from the federal government to ensure Australians have a roof over their heads.

    A national campaign to end homelessness, Everybody’s Home, estimates a $7bn injection into social housing would make a serious dent in homelessness, while creating 18,000 jobs a year over the next four years.

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    Australian Open records fourth Covid case as tennis player warned for breaking quarantine rules

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    Authorities say player ‘opened his door’ to have conversation with friends as players in strict isolation say they risk injury if not allowed to train

    An Australian Open tennis player has been warned for breaching strict isolation rules by “opening his door” to talk to his friends, as players complain about “insane” quarantine requirements ahead of the tournament.

    Four people have now tested positive for Covid-19 on charter planes bringing players in for the competition, which has forced 47 players into strict isolation where they cannot train for 14 days.

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    Australian Open players locked down as two test positive for Covid-19 after flight from US

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    Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and Kei Nishikori confined to hotel rooms after two people on chartered flight test positive

    Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is believed to be among a group of players who will be confined to their hotel rooms for the next 14 days after two people on the charter flight QR7493 from Los Angeles tested positive to Covid-19 on arrival in Melbourne.

    A leaked email from Tennis Australia, which was sent to all players and officials who were aboard the flight and was posted on social media by Mexican world No 155 Santiago González, said players on the flight must isolate in their rooms for two weeks. This means they have no ability to train in the vital days leading up to the competition.

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    US tennis player Tennys Sandgren flying to Australian Open despite positive Covid test

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    The American says he first tested positive in November and tournament organisers argue he is therefore not infectious

    The US tennis player Tennys Sandgren is bound for Melbourne after Tennis Australia reportedly intervened so he could board a charter flight despite testing positive for coronavirus.

    In a series of tweets on Thursday, Australian time, Sandgren initially suggested he would not be able to board the flight for the Australian Open, writing “Covid positive over thanksgiving” and “Covid positive on Monday”.

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    ‘Hold my beer’: Australian surfer Mikey Wright charges into Hawaii surf to rescue struggling swimmer

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    Wright himself was filming the incident, then jumped a fence, dived into the water and pulled the woman to safety

    An Instagram video has caught an Australian pro surfer heroically stepping in to rescue a woman being swept away by strong currents in Hawaii.

    Mikey Wright was looking out over a beach, thought to be on Oahu’s north shore, when he saw a beachgoer struggling in the surf.

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    Australian pro surfer Mikey Wright saves woman struggling in Hawaii surf – video

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    Mikey Wright has been filmed saving a beachgoer who was struggling against a current at a beach on Oahu’s north shore. The Australian surfer, who was in Hawaii for the Pipeline Masters event, posted footage of the rescue on Instagram with the caption: “hold my beer”. Although other beachgoers could be seen trying to help and reach the struggling swimmer, the current was too strong until Wright stepped in.

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    Armpit advertising: Australian cricket umpires to carry deodorant ads under their arms

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    • Underarm ads for deodorant believed to be a world first
    • Umpires to wear the ads during Big Bash League games

    Cricket advertising is set for areas never before reached, with umpires in Australia’s Big Bash League to advertise a new sponsor in their underarms.

    In a groundbreaking “armpit advertising” campaign revealed on Thursday, Cricket Australia announced a commercial partnership with the Australian deodorant and antiperspirant brand Rexona.

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    ‘I was numb inside’: Jack de Belin rape trial hears from alleged victim of NRL star

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    The St George Illawarra NRL player has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault at his Wollongong trial

    NRL star Jack de Belin raped a teenager after ignoring her protests to stop undressing her and later asked why she was being “so emotional”, a jury has been told.

    The St George Illawarra player, 29, and his friend Callan Sinclair, 23, have pleaded not guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of the woman, then 19, after meeting her in a Wollongong bar in December 2018.

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    Cricketer left in need of windscreen repairs after smashing own car with huge six

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    • Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien scores direct hit in T20 game
    • Self-inflicted damage comes from one of eight sixes

    “O, O, Ooooo… O’Brien,” goes the annoyingly catchy advert for Australia’s best-known car windscreen replacement company. But it was a case of “Oh, oh, no” for Kevin O’Brien after the Irish cricket star smashed the back window of his own car with a trademark six.

    Related: Shane Warne's $1m baggy green finds permanent home next to Bradman

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    ‘How did none of us think of this before?’: sports bra scheme breaks down entry barriers | Samantha Lewis

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    By providing access to basic equipment, a not-for-profit is helping normalise women’s involvement in sports at every level

    Five years ago, Sarah Dwyer-Shick – a youth football coach from the United States – spent time visiting friends and colleagues scattered across Africa. Along with mosquito repellent and sunscreen, she carried with her a small bundle of sports bras as gifts for young players in rural Namibia.

    When she arrived, Dwyer-Shick found that her gifts were coveted by older players, too – including those on the Namibian women’s national team. Many of them, she realised, had never owned a sports bra before.

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