JOHANNESBURG: At the 2012 London Olympics, before 80,000 roaring fans and a constellation of camera flashes, it took Oscar Pistorius 45.44 seconds to become a global icon.
The South African’s sprint around the 400m track was the first time in history that a double-amputee had raced at the Olympic Games.
The race capped an Olympian triumph over adversity for Pistorius. His journey from disabled child to world-class athlete seemed to embody the very best of sporting endeavour and the human spirit.
Then on Valentine’s Day in 2013 his achievements were just as quickly demolished.
In the early hours of the morning at his upmarket Pretoria home, he shot and killed his 29-year-old model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, later saying he believed her to be an intruder.
At his trial in 2014, he sat for months in a windowless courtroom, and watched as his world was washed away.
His sparkling career was cut short, sponsors dumped him and he was forced to sell his homes in the face of mounting legal bills.
His conviction for manslaughter put him in jail for a year but his crime was upgraded to murder on appeal and in July, 2016 he was sentenced to six years, less than half the minimum term of 15 years for the charge.
The athlete had sobbed, shaken and vomited in the dock as details of his lover’s brutal death were examined in excruciating detail during his trial while the eyes of the world were transfixed.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein more than doubled that jail term to 13 years and five months after the state appealed that it was unduly lenient.
Prosecutors had argued earlier this month that Pistorius failed to show genuine remorse over the killing.
The “Blade Runner” — an epithet earned for his trademark prosthetic legs that powered him to fame as a Paralympic gold medallist — became the “Blade Gunner.”
“He’s not only broke, but he is broken, there is nothing left,” lawyer Barry Roux told his sentencing hearing last year.
Time and again during his trial, the court was told about “two Oscars” — one a hero, the other a victim.
But the high-profile proceedings also exposed the 29-year-old’s darker side: offering glimpses of a dangerously volatile man with a penchant for guns, beautiful women and fast cars.
In 2009, he spent a night in jail after allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a party in a case that was settled out of court.
Two years later, he was accused of firing a gun through the sunroof of an ex-girlfriend’s moving car, although a court found there was not enough evidence to convict him on that charge.
Weeks before he shot Steenkamp, he discharged a gun by accident at a Johannesburg restaurant.
“Oscar is certainly not what people think he is,” ex-lover and trial witness Samantha Taylor has said.
Pistorius has long been open about his love for guns. The sprinter slept with a pistol under his bed at his home in a high-security estate for fear of burglars.
Once held in Amsterdam after gunpowder residue was detected on his prosthetics, he also took a New York Times journalist interviewing him to a shooting range.
The writer described him driving at 250 kilometers an hour, double the speed limit, and referred to Pistorius as having “a fierce, even frenzied need to take on the world at maximum speed and with minimum caution.”
His passion for motorbikes, adrenaline and speed is well documented. “He likes fast cars. He is just built for speed,” his trainer Jannie Brooks said.
He also crashed his boat on a river, breaking two ribs, an eye socket and his jaw. Empty alcohol bottles were found in the boat.
He once owned two white tigers but sold them to a zoo in Canada when they became too big.
Born in 1986 in Johannesburg without fibulas (calf bones), his parents decided when he was 11 months old to have his legs amputated below the knee so he could be fitted with prosthetic legs.
This allowed him to play sports while growing up. He excelled in many, concentrating on running only after fracturing a knee playing rugby.
“It was never made an issue. My mother would say to my brother, ‘You put on your shoes, and Oscar, you put on your legs, then meet me at the car,’” Pistorius said in a 2011 interview.
A middle child whose parents divorced when he was six, he has a problematic relationship with his father Henke, but is close to his siblings who were at his side in court.
His mother died when he was 15 and the date of her death is tattooed on his arm.
In 2004, just eight months after taking to the track, he smashed the 200m world record at the Athens Paralympics.
Next up was the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games where he took the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint titles and launched a battle to take part in able-bodied athletics, overcoming arguments that his custom-built carbon-fiber running blades gave him an unfair advantage.
In 2011 he made history by becoming the first amputee to run at the World Championships, where he took silver with South Africa’s 4x400m sprint team.
“You’re not disabled by your disabilities but abled by your abilities,” he told Athlete magazine in an interview that year.
In 2012 he again made history by becoming the first double-amputee to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics.
“He is the definition of global inspiration,” Time magazine proclaimed in its 2012 list of the world’s most influential people.
Less than a year later, Pistorius featured on the cover with the words “Man,
Superman, Gunman.”
— AFP
Oscar Pistorius: The ‘broke and broken’ Olympian
Oscar Pistorius: The ‘broke and broken’ Olympian
‘Let’s go’: Ronaldo celebrates leading Al-Nassr to King’s Cup final
- A 3-1 win over Al-Khaleej means Al-Nassr will face Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal on May 31
RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo, having led Al-Nassr to the King’s Cup final with a 3-1 win over Al-Khaleej on Wednesday night, expressed his delight in a message to his fans on social media.
Ronaldo scored the first and third goals of the night, with Senegal star Sadio Mane netting the second from the penalty spot during the semifinal at Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh.
Al-Nassr will now meet fierce rivals Al-Hilal in the final on May 31.
The Portuguese star celebrated the win with brief message on X: “The King’s Cup … let’s go.”
He accompanied the message with pictures of his celebrations after scoring the two goals.
The King’s Cup final confrontation is set to be the fifth time the teams have met this season.
At the start of the season, Al-Nassr won the first clash 2-1 in the final of the 2023 King Salman Club Cup (formerly Arab Club Champions Cup) with a brace from Ronaldo.
Al-Hilal emerged victorious in the next two clashes. They first scored a 3-0 victory in the Saudi Pro League at King Fahd International Stadium on Dec. 1; and then a 2-1 win on April 8 in the semifinal of the Diriyah Super Cup in Abu Dhabi, a competition they would go on to claim by beating Al-Ittihad.
Apart from the King’s Cup final, the teams will also meet in the second SPL fixture of the season, on May 17, at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons reign supreme at ESL One Birmingham
- BetBoom Team swept aside with a thrilling 3-0 win in the final at Resorts World Arena to take home $300,000
- Team Falcons continue their dominance of the 2024 Dota 2 calendar, following wins at DreamLeague Season 22 and BetBoom Dacha 2024
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons have claimed the ESL One Birmingham Powered by Intel crown after beating BetBoom Team in a thrilling grand final clash at Resorts World Arena.
Team Falcons had a near-flawless run to the title, finishing top of Group A without dropping a series. Despite a slight stumble against Tundra Esports in the upper bracket, they flew through the lower bracket, dispatching Team Liquid and OG, before getting their revenge on Tundra Esports in the lower bracket final. They took home $300,000, a total of 6,400 points and the coveted trophy.
“We’re super happy with this win, we’ve been working so hard this year and it’s really showing with our performances” said Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun from Team Falcons. “The fans were brilliant, and we’re looking forward to seeing what else we can achieve this year with this great team.”
With this win, Team Falcons have now secured their spot for the Riyadh Masters at the Esports World Cup in summer 2024.
Europe’s biggest Dota 2 esports event in six years, ESL One captivated audiences worldwide and saw a viewership of over 327,000. In addition, over 18,000 fans attended the contest in the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on the final three days of the tournament.
Making a return to Birmingham for the first time since 2018, the tournament commenced on April 22 with the group stage, where 12 of the world’s best teams were split into two groups of six.
DreamLeague Season 22 champions Team Falcons went unbeaten and topped Group A, with BetBoom Team finishing a close second. Team Liquid and G2.iG eked through in third and fourth place, respectively, with Team Liquid also unbeaten.
In the first matches of the upper bracket, UK representatives Tundra Esports took the win against Team Falcons to secure their spot in the final against BetBoom Team, who knocked OG to the lower bracket.
The first day saw Team Liquid take on HEROIC in a tense matchup which saw the latter become the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs. In the final matchup of the day, Team Liquid’s momentum from their earlier win was quashed by Team Falcons, who took the match 2-1.
The BetBoom Team were back against Tundra Esports for a spot in the final and crushed their opposition to emphatically secure their place. Tundra’s lower bracket final opponents were decided in the next match, where OG, despite battling bravely, fell 2-1 against a rampant Team Falcons.
In the lower bracket final, it was Team Falcons who brushed Tundra Esports aside with a 2-0 sweep, setting the stage for a blockbuster finale against BetBoom Team.
The last time these teams faced off was in the group stage where the match finished in a 1-1 draw, but at DreamLeague Season 22 earlier this year, Team Falcons took a clean 3-0 sweep over BetBoom Team, leaving them hungry for revenge.
After a rocky start, Team Falcons managed to rally quickly to dispel BetBoom Team’s chances of opening the scoring. Team Falcons continued this form into the second game, where, despite some early setbacks, they managed to overpower BetBoom Team to increase their lead to 2-0.
Almost directly replicating the DreamLeague Season 22 Final, Team Falcons resumed their dominance into the third game, sweeping BetBoom Team away to continue their almost flawless start to 2024.
Pakistan’s cricket body names 18-player squad for T20I series against England, Ireland
- A 15-player squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be announced before the May 24 deadline
- Fast bowler Haris Rauf along with all-rounders Hasan Ali and Salman Ali Agha have been recalled
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced the 18-player squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England & Wales beginning on May 10 and continuing till the end of the month.
According to a PCB statement, the squad will be reduced to 15 players for next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 after the first T20I at Leeds on 22 May to meet the ICC’s 24 May deadline.
The men’s national selection committee has recalled fast bowler Haris Rauf, along with all-rounders Hasan Ali and Salman Ali Agha, in the 18-player squad.
The two cricketers who did not make the cut from the original 17-player squad that faced New Zealand are wrist spinner Usama Mir and fast bowler Zaman Khan.
“Crafting this squad was a challenging task due to the outstanding talent available,” the PCB selection committee was quoted in the statement. “After thorough deliberation and considering various cricketing aspects, we have finalized 18 players.”
“The squad encompasses a robust top-order featuring Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan; an effective middle-order with Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Muhammad Irfan Khan; versatile all-rounders in Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Salman Ali Agha; a pace battery led by Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi; and the spin prowess of Abrar Ahmed,” it continued.
“We understand Usama and Zaman will be disappointed and they should be as they must be looking ahead to the tours of Ireland and England,” the statement added. “They are quality cricketers and have long careers ahead of them. They need to continue to focus on their cricket so that they are available, if required.”
Haris Rauf and wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan were sidelined for the New Zealand T20Is due to injuries, while middle-order batter Muhammad Irfan Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan were rested from the two T20Is in Lahore due to niggles.
The four cricketers underwent fitness assessments at the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday afternoon, showing significant improvement.
The team is scheduled to depart for Dublin on May 7 following a three-day training camp in Lahore.
No place like Dome: Boxing back at Tyson-Douglas Tokyo upset venue
- Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery
- Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson
TOKYO: When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated around the world.
Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990.
Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery.
The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.
But Inoue faces a stern test against the 29-year-old Nery, a former two-division world champion.
Inoue will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson, who arrived in Tokyo more than three decades ago with an aura of invincibility.
“Tyson’s status at that time was of being this godlike, completely unbeatable heavyweight,” James Sterngold, who reported on the fight for the New York Times, told AFP.
“He was really one of a kind — he was up on a pedestal that only a small number of athletes can occupy.”
Tyson was expected to win so easily that Sterngold, a news reporter based in Tokyo, was asked to cover the fight because the New York Times did not want to send a specialist boxing writer “halfway around the world for 90 seconds.”
Veteran Japanese boxing writer Shoji Tsue, who has covered the sport for 50 years, was also expecting a quick win for Tyson, even after seeing the American knocked down by sparring partner Greg Page in training.
“Everyone thought that because Tyson was Tyson, there was no way he would lose, no matter what happened,” said Tsue.
Tyson’s autobiography said he had been too busy partying to prepare properly for Douglas, who had an unspectacular win-loss-draw record of 29-4-1 (19 KOs).
Sterngold interviewed Tyson in his hotel room days before the fight and found him wrapped in a bedsheet watching martial arts movies.
“He seemed like he didn’t really care,” said Sterngold. “He clearly wasn’t in a revved-up frame of mind.”
The fight began at lunchtime and Tsue said the Tokyo Dome was “surprisingly quiet,” with fans anticipating another Tyson demolition job.
But Douglas began to control the fight, and although he was knocked down in the eighth, he got up and sent Tyson sprawling to the canvas two rounds later.
The world heavyweight champion failed to beat the count, with those watching trying to make sense of what they had just seen.
“I was sitting in the press seats closest to the ring, and Tyson went down right in front of me,” said Tsue.
“My heart was thumping. I wondered if it was possible that something like this could even happen?“
The drama was not over as promoter Don King rushed to reporters and tried to convince them that Tyson had not lost.
“He told us that we shouldn’t file stories because it was not a knockout, that the ref had miscounted and that King had already affirmed that it was going to be overturned,” said Sterngold.
“This story was very fishy, but it added to the drama.”
King failed to have the result thrown out and Tyson never regained his superhuman status.
Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson.
Nery said the choice of venue could be an omen.
“If Mike Tyson can lose his unbeaten record there, then so can Naoya Inoue,” Nery said recently at his training camp.
Tsue predicted a Inoue victory but warned that the Mexican, who has a 35-1 record with 27 KOs, was capable of an upset.
Inoue was, he said, the right man to bring boxing back to the historic stadium.
“There hadn’t been any boxers who would have been a good fit for a match at the Tokyo Dome before,” said Tsue.
“And if Inoue wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be any world title fights at the Tokyo Dome for a while yet.”
Celtics incinerate Heat to advance, Mavs trounce Clippers
- Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis
- Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2
The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 to complete an emphatic 4-1 series victory Wednesday and book their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The postseason top seeds, who were upset by Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, avenged that loss in spectacular fashion with a one-sided wire-to-wire rout at the TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics threw down the gauntlet in the first quarter, racking up a whopping 41 points to open up a commanding 18-point advantage.
They extended that lead to 22 points by half-time, and kept up the pressure in the third quarter to lead 98-66 heading into the final frame.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla could afford to rest his frontline players for the fourth with the game effectively won against an injury-hit Miami team missing Jimmy Butler and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Mazzulla said the Celtics had not been thinking about last year’s series loss to Miami.
“I don’t really worry about what happened last year,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day I liked how we approached the series, regardless of who they were playing.
“It had an intentionality to it, had attention to detail, and had a consistent physicality,” he added.
“And that’s the most important thing, regardless of who we’re playing. We wake up tomorrow and we’ve got to do it all over again versus another team.”
Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2.
The Celtics advance brimming with confidence after ruthlessly taking care of eighth-seeded Miami in five games.
White’s 25-point haul included five three-pointers while Jayson Tatum added 16 points including 12 rebounds with three assists.
Sam Hauser added 17 points off the bench while Jrue Holiday also cracked double figures with 10 points.
In Wednesday’s other playoff game, Luka Doncic delivered a 35-point performance as the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers 123-93 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead.
The 30-point margin of defeat was the Clippers’ heaviest ever NBA playoff loss.
Dallas, who can clinch the series with victory in game six back in Texas on Friday, pulled away toward the end of the first half to open up a 56-46 lead at the break.
They extended that advantage to 20 points after outscoring Los Angeles 33-23 in the third quarter and piled on in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one stage.
Doncic finished with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber added 15 from the bench. Kyrie Irving had a relatively quiet night with 14 points.
“In the playoffs it doesn’t matter if you win by one point or you win by 50 point — but it’s still a good win,” Doncic said afterwards.
“But the job is not done. We’ve got one more we need to win. We’re gonna get ready for next game.”
The Clippers were left licking their wounds after a humiliating loss that saw their offense make just nine of 35 attempted three-pointers, and 33 of 87 from the field.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the scoring with a meagre 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven points and Russell Westbrook six from the bench.
“We didn’t play our best game, we understand that collectively. We’ll be better for game six,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“Overall we weren’t good on both sides of the basketball and just had a bad day.”
Asked what he attributed Harden’s poor performance to, Lue replied: “Being human. He’s allowed to have a bad game.”
