UndelSport

AUSTRALIAN hurdler Michelle Jenneke is well known for her iconic pre-race dance routine, earning her the nickname Jiggling Jenneke, but it seems she wasn’t in the mood for dancing on Thursday night.

There was no jiggling in sight as the 24-year-old took to the track for the Summer of Athletics Grand Prix in Queensland yesterday.

Instead, the rather solemn looking Jenneke, swapped out her usual cheerful warm-up routine for a tired yawn.

This subdued appearance from Jenneke comes after she was lashed with widespread criticism for her performance in the opening heat for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.null

In a recent interview with news.com.au the Aussie athlete revealed the circumstances that led up to what she called “one of the worst races I’ve ever run”.

“A lot of it (criticism) was misplaced. I know that I came into Rio as well prepared as I could have been and there were some unfortunate circumstances that didn’t go my way,” Jenneke said.

“I was definitely not as disappointed with my Rio performance as everyone else seemed to be so that hasn’t really affected me at all.null

“I knew what had gone on in my situation better than the rest of the world did and everyone who knew me quite well understood what actually happened.”

Her appearance on Thursday, in which she placed second in the women’s 100 metre hurdles open event, served as preparation for her Commonwealth Games Campaign.

She ran a time of 13.70 seconds, just slower than her Rio Olympics time of 13.26 seconds.

Heading into the Commonwealth Games, Jenneke told news.com.au that she just wants “to go out there and do the best I can — try and give the home crowd something to cheer for”.null

Usain St Leo Bolt (born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter. He also is a world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. His reign as Olympic Games champion in all of these events spans three Olympics. Owing to his achievements and dominance in sprint competition, he is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.

A nine-time Olympic gold medalist, Bolt won the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at three consecutive Olympic Games, although he lost the 2008 relay gold medal about nine years after due to a teammate’s doping disqualification. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory. Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016).

An eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011. He is the most successful athlete of the World Championships, was the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is the joint-most successful in the 100 m with three titles.

Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012. Bolt’s most successful event is the 200 m, with three Olympic and four World titles. The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100 m; he had earlier won numerous 200 m medals (including 2007 World Championship silver) and holds the world under-20 and world under-18 records for the event.

His achievements as a sprinter have earned him the media nickname “Lightning Bolt”, and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year(three times) and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times). Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships, when he finished third in his last solo 100 m race, opted out of the 200m, and pulled up in the 4×100m relay final.

American Andy Roddick knows something about playing in tennis matches that seem to never end.

In 2003, Roddick won an Australian Open quarterfinal that ended with a score of 21-19 in the fifth set. He also lost the 2009 Wimbledon Championship final against Roger Federer 14-16 in the fifth set.

Now those two tennis championships are finally putting a stop to extremely long matches.null

The Australian Open begins Monday in Melbourne. The competition now uses a first-to-10, win by two points tiebreaker, if both players have won six games in the last set of the match. In these competitions, men play up to five sets and women play as many as three.

At Wimbledon later this summer, the players may have to play a little longer. The new rules call for a first-to-seven, win by two points tiebreaker, if players are tied at 12 games in the last set.

Many players support the new rules.

Roddick said, “…I’ll miss the long matches, but I think it’s a positive change.” The 2003 United States Open champion added that he thought fans would like to see a result from the match after a few hours.

For American John Isner, that would be a welcome change too. In 2010, Isner beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon. The set itself lasted more than eight hours. It was the longest tennis match in history: 11 hours and five minutes.

Isner said this about the rule change at Wimbledon: “If they could name it, they probably would name it after me.”null

The U.S. Open was the first of the four Grand Slam championships to end long matches. In the 1970s, the U.S. Open started the first-to-seven, win-by-two tiebreaker to end a 6-6 tie in the final set.

The French Open, however, will continue to have players compete until someone wins by two games. That means all four championships now use different rules to end a match.

Chris Kermode is head of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He said, “Ultimately, it’s a balancing act between elevating the uniqueness of each event, versus compromising on the uniformity of rules and potential clarity for fans.”

Women’s Tennis Association chief Steve Simon would like to have the same rules across all the major championships. But he added, “I don’t think that matches that go extraordinarily long are healthy for the sport.”

Denis Shapovalov is competing in this year’s Australian Open. He said, “For the fans, they’ve already watched five hours of tennis, so they don’t want to sit through another, potentially, hour or two hours. They want to see an ending. And they want it to be exciting.”

არიენ რობენი (ნიდერლ. Arjen Robben დ. 23 იანვარი, 1984) — ნიდერლანდელი ფეხბურთელი, რომელიც თამაშობს გერმანიის ბუნდესლიგის კლუბ მიუნხენის „ბაიერნში“. ამპლუით თავდამსხმელია, თუმცა ასევე თამაშობს გარემარბად და წინ წაწეული ნახევარმცველის პოზიციაზე. ცნობილია დრიბლინგით, სისწრაფითა და მარჯვენა ფლანგიდან მარცხენა ფეხით განხორციელებული ზუსტი, გრძელი დარტყმებით. იყო ნიდერლანდების ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრების წევრი და მის რიგებში მონაწილეობა მიიღო ევროპის 2004, 2008, 2012 წლების ჩემპიონატებსა და მსოფლიოს 2006, 2010 და 2014 წლების ჩემპიონატებში. არის 2013 წლის უეფა-ს ჩემპიონთა ლიგის გამარჯვებული და ამავე გათამაშების ფინალური მატჩის საუკეთესო ფეხბურთელი.

რობენი პირველად ცნობილი გახდა საფეხბურთო კლუბ „გრონინგენში“, სადაც ის თამაშობდა 2000 წლიდან 2001წლამდე. ორი წლის შემდეგ არიენი სათამაშოდ „PSV-ში“გადავიდა, რომლის რიგებშიც ნიდერლანდების წლის ახალგაზრდა ფეხბურთელი გახდა და კლუბთან ერთად ერედივიზიაც მოიგო.^[1] მომდევნო საფეხბურთო სეზონში რობენთან კონტრაქტის გაფორმება ბევრ ინგლისურ კლუბს სურდა და ხანგრძლივი მოლაპარაკებების შემდეგ ფეხბურთელი „ჩელსის“ შეუერთდა.

კლუბში რობენის დებიუტი ტრავმის გამო გადაიდო, თუმცა დაბრუნების შემდეგ ის გუნდს პრემიერლიგის ზედიზედ ორჯერ მოგებაში დაეხმარა და 2004 წლის ნოემბერში ლიგის თვის საუკეთესო ფეხბურთელადაც დაასახელეს.^[2][3] 2007წელს არიენმა „ჩელსი“ დატოვა და სათამაშოდ ესპანეთში, მადრიდის „რეალში“ გადავიდა. სამეფო კლუბს ეს ტრანფერი €35 მილიონი ევრო დაუჯდა. 2009 წლის აგვისტოში რობენი მიუნხენის „ბაიერნმა“ €25 მილიონი ევროს სანაცვლოდ შეიძინა.^[4] ნიდერლანდელმა ფეხბურთელმა გერმანიის ბუნდესლიგის სადებიუტო მატჩშივე ორი გოლი გაიტანა. იმავე სეზონში რობენმა კლუბთან ერთად ბუნდესლიგა მოიგო და უეფა-ს ჩემპიონთა ლიგის ფინალშიც გავიდა. თავად ფეხბურთელმა კი უკანასკნელი რვა წლის განმავლობაში 5 საჩემპიონო ტიტული მოიგო. სეზონის ბოლოს არიენ რობენი გერმანიის წლის ფეხბურთელადდაასახელეს.^[5] მიუნხენის „ბაიერნთან“ ერთად გავიდა 2013წლის უეფა-ს ჩემპიონთა ლიგის ფინალში, სადაც დორტმუნდის „ბორუსია“ დაამარცხა, გახდა ლიგის გამარჯვებული და ფინალის საუკეთესო ფეხბურთელის ტიტულიც მოიპოვა.

საკლუბო კარიერა

გრონინგენი

რობენი თავის პირველ პროფესიონალურ კლუბ გრონინგენში 1999–2000 წლების სეზონში გამოდიოდა. ლიგის თამაშებში გაიტანა 3  გოლი. კლუბის მწვრთნელმა იან ვან დეიკმა 2000 წლის ნოემბერში თავდამსხმელი რობენი „ტვენტეს“ წინააღმდეგ თამაშში გუნდის გაფართოებულ შემადგენლობაში შეიყვანა, თუმცა არიენს მოედანზე გამოსვლა დეკემბრამდე არ მოუწია. 2000 წლის 3 დეკემბერს „ვალვიიკის“ წინააღმდეგ მატჩის 79-ე წუთზე გრონინგენის ფეხბურთელი ლეონარდო დოს სანტოს სილვა დაშავდა და მოედანზე მის ნაცვლად არიენ რობენი გამოჩნდა. ზამთრის შემდეგ, რობენი ძირითად შემადგენლობაში დამკვიდრდა.^[6] პირველი სეზონის ბოლოს რობენი წლის ფეხბურთელად დაასახელეს. არიენმა თანაგუნდელ ჟორდი ჰაისტრიტთან ერთად გრონინგენის ახალგაზრდული აკადემიის სიძლიერე დაამტკიცა. რობენი შემდეგ სეზონშიც გრონინგენში დარჩა. 2001–2002 წლების სეზონში მოედანზე 28  მატჩში გამოჩნდა და ექვსი გოლიც გაიტანა.

საკლუბო სტატისტიკა

სანაკრებო
სანაკრებო სტატისტიკა

Shawn Cheshire is a blind cyclist who competed in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She hopes to take part again in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.

But before that, she had a different goal: hiking the Grand Canyon in the American state of Arizona.

Cheshire lost her ability to see after an accident nine years ago. She has tried to become as independent as possible in the last few years. She said, “For me, being able to walk in the Grand Canyon like that, that’s freedom.”

She said that, for a long time, she was in “a really dark place and hated being blind.” She said that sports and physical exercise gave her “another opportunity at living.”

Earlier this month, Cheshire crossed 68 kilometers of steep and uneven ground in the Grand Canyon. She did so in 24 hours and 15 minutes. That is believed to be a record for a blind hiker. The earlier record of 28 hours was set in 2014.

Three friends helped her during the Grand Canyon hike. They walked several steps apart. They guided and warned her of barriers. She listened for and followed the sound of a bell worn by the lead hiker. She used hiking poles for balance.

Scott Drum is one of Cheshire’s friends. He served as a guide on the hike. “I’ve learned a lot about myself,” he said. “I learned a lot more about the canyon.”

Cheshire and her friends finished the hike on October 8. She said as the group neared the end of the trip, “I had a huge ball of emotion welled up in my chest –I cannot believe we just did that.”

Along with hiking and cycling, Cheshire has also done running, skiing and rock climbing.

“I’d like to figure out everything a blind woman has never done,” she said, “and I would like to do that.”

Britain’s Prince Harry is in Australia to open the fourth-ever Invictus Games. The international competition is for military members and veterans wounded in battle.

Prince Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, helped start the event in 2014 after attending a similar competition for wounded veterans in the United States. The prince himself served in the British Armed Forces for 10 years.

The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, is also in Australia. The two are making their first royal tour with great media attention; they announced Monday they are expecting their first child.

“Invictus” means “undefeated” in Latin. The Games bring together more than 500 competitors from 18 countries, including Afghanistan, France, Iraq, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Earlier Invictus Games were held in England, the United States and Canada.

After arriving in Australia, the prince thanked the Australian government for holding the event. “Australia is, of course, home to some of the world’s best sporting talent but what you are about to see during these Invictus Games will (be) a demonstration of the power of … sport to change lives,” he said.

Former Australian military officer Garry Robinson was in a Black Hawk helicopter when it crashed in enemy territory in 2010 in Afghanistan. He suffered a brain and back injury. He also lost part of his left leg.

Now, he is getting ready to compete in his fourth Invictus Games. He will compete in the sports of cycling, archery and swimming.

“I am very honored,” Robinson said. “(Invictus) saved my life.”

Amazon recently announced it would become an official supporter of the 2018 Invictus Games, which are being held in Sydney. It also supported the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada.

Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said the company is committed to employing veterans.

In a statement, Bezos said, “We find that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment.”

The Invictus Games run from October 20-27. Many of the events will be held in the same building used for the 2000 Olympics, which were also held in Sydney.