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      Who is USA sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and why is she not at the Olympics in Toyko?

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      THERE are few greater thrills in sport than watching an Olympic sprinter run on the biggest stage.And that was the dream for US 100 metres star Sha’Carri Richardson, who was tipped by many for a medal at this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo.
      Richardson had been expected to take the Olympics by storm this summerCredit: Reuters
      Who is Sha’Carri Richardson?
      Born in Dallas, Texas in 2000, Richardson is one of Team USA’s rising stars.
      An exciting sprinter, she competes in the 100m and 200m and rose to fame after a stunning run for Louisiana State University in 2019.
      Sha’Carri ran a 10.75sec race for the 100m, breaking the NCAA record and in turn becoming one of the fastest teenagers of all time.
      Fast forward to 2021 and she was breaking records again, recording a personal best 10.72sec in the run-up to the Olympics in Tokyo.
      As a result of that run, she is now the fourth-fastest American woman in history.
      But the US star will not be competing in TokyoCredit: Getty
      Richardson has always been a talented sprinter and won the 100m title at the Junior Olympics in 2016.
      She is known for her colourful hair styles and revealed after qualifying for the Olympics that her girlfriend picked the colour.
      She told USA Today: “My girlfriend actually picked my [hair] colour.
      “She said it like spoke to her, the fact that it was just so loud and vibrant, and that’s who I am.”
      Richardson’s stunning athleticism has seen fans compare her to the legendary Florence “Flo Jo” Griffith Joyner.
      Flo-Jo won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and relay race at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in South Korea.

      Why is she not at the Olympics?
      Unfortunately, Richardson will not be competing this summer at the Olympics.
      She was disqualified last month from participating in individual Olympic events after testing positive for THC, the chemical found in marijuana.
      Cannabis was banned by WADA as of January 1 this year and could carry a ban of up to four years.
      Sha’Carri claims that she only smoked weed to cope with the pain of finding out that her biological mother had died. 
      Richardson had qualified for the Olympics earlier this year but that run has been scrubbed from the record booksCredit: Reuters
      Her cousin Chasity Lanell told the US Sun: “I really feel [the ban] is unfair.
      “Sha’Carri really does inspire a lot of people and everybody makes mistakes. 
      “She is going through a very hard time because of the loss of her mother. 
      “It’s unfair to take something from someone who started from the bottom and made their way up to the top, from nothing. 
      “People are judging her from the outside but they don’t really know what she’s going through on the inside. 
      “It was just a little marijuana, it is a legal substance in the state where she took it.” More

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      Ben Whittaker reveals his hope to be Mayor of Wolverhampton and give everyone ‘a grill and gold chain’ in epic interview

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      BEN WHITTAKER plans to become the Mayor of Wolverhampton by winning Olympic gold.The Darlaston light-heavyweight booked his place in the semi-finals of Tokyo 2020 this morning with a narrow win over Brazil’s Keno Machado.
      Ben Whittaker booked his place in the semis with a narrow win over Brazilian Keno MachadoCredit: Alamy
      An elated Whittaker celebrates booking his place in the semisCredit: Alamy
      Whittaker, 24, is guaranteed at least a bronze medal but is hellbent on becoming the man of the town by bringing gold back to the West Midlands.
      After getting past Machado, Whittaker said: “I knew this would be a hard fight.
      “I am a confident, arrogant lad and I am not going to lie, this morning I felt a bit weird.
      “My legs felt heavy and my stomach was twisting.
      “But I listened to the corner and the tactics were great. It doesn’t matter whether it was a split or unanimous.
      “Sunday is where it gets real now. I want to go back home with the gold medal and become the Mayor of Wolverhampton!
      “I want one of those nice chains on my neck, calling all the shots.
      I want to go back home with the gold medal and become the Mayor of Wolverhampton!Ben Whittaker
      “Everyone in Wolverhampton will have a nice ice grill and a nice big chain, courtesy of Ben Whittaker.”
      Whittaker, a bronze medallist in the 2019 World Championships, was overcome with emotion after booking his place in the semis.
      He said: “I have been crying like a baby.
      “It was weird. Everyone has heard me for the last week and the last month saying a bronze is nothing, silver is nothing. I truly did mean that.
      “But when the win came, I had a roar and a little celebration and then it hit me: ‘You know what you’ve done, Ben? You know what you’ve done?
      “All those years I have watched the Olympics, all those years I have been in the gym with Olympians and they tell you their story.
      “When it hits you, it is a weird feeling. The coaches say you are going to be on that wall in Sheffield.
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      “I need a haircut now. I don’t want to be on there with messy hair!”
      Standing between Whittaker and his dream of claiming Olympic gold is Russian Olympic Committee’s Imam Khataev, whom he’ll meet early on Sunday morning.
      Should he get past the Russian, he will face either Bayram Malkan, Loren Dominguez, Arlen Lopez or Rogelio Torres in the final on Wednesday morning.
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      Aussie Olympian Nathan Baggaley handed 25-year prison sentence for £110m cocaine smuggling plot

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      TWO-TIME Olympic silver medal-winning kayaker Nathan Baggaley has been jailed for 25 years for trying to smuggle up to £110MILLION worth of cocaine into Australia.Along with his brother Dru, the pair was found guilty by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury in April of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug in July 2018.
      Olympic silver medal-winning kayaker Nathan Baggaley has been jailed for 25 yearsCredit: AP
      Police seized a huge amount of cocaine that was linked back to the OlympianCredit: Supreme Court of Queensland
      During their trial in Brisbane, the court heard Dru, 39, and another man travelled hundreds of miles to pick up 650 kilograms of the drug from a foreign ship.
      It also heard the men began throwing the drugs overboard on their way back to the mainland when they spotted an Australian Navy patrol boat chasing them.
      The two men were arrested by Queensland Water Police shortly after the pursuit.
      Nathan, who won silver medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the K-1 and K-2 over 500 metres and is a three-time world champion over the K-1 500 distance, was charged almost a year later.
      It was discovered that he purchased and fitted out the boat which was used during the failed plot.
      Lawyers for the men argued Dru had believed the dozens of packages contained tobacco, while Nathan knew nothing about a plan to import any illicit substance.
      Judge Justice Ann Lyons rejected the brothers’ claims and sentenced them Tuesday on the basis that Dru was a principal organiser of the operation and his brother Nathan was actively involved on the day the two men went to sea, and was set to be rewarded substantially for his role.
      Nathan, 45, will have to serve 12 years in custody before he is eligible to apply for parole, while Dru will be eligible to apply for parole after 16 years.

      Nathan was banned for taking steroids in 2005 while still competing as a kayaker.
      The brothers were jailed in 2009 for manufacturing and supplying large numbers of ecstasy tablets.
      And again in 2015 for producing party pills and conspiring to make methamphetamine.
      Police intercepted the boat carrying the Olympian’s brother Dru
      Cops seized £105million worth of cocaine on the arrestCredit: Australian Federal Police
      Nathan Baggaley will now be spending a long period behind barsCredit: AP More

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      in Athletics

      Team GB rowers end Tokyo 2020 without a single Olympic gold medal ‘after £27m investment’ as men’s eight take bronze

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      GB rowers’ week of woe ended with yet more disappointment – and the first Games without a gold medal since 1980.After Vicky Thornley became the SIXTH GB boat to succumb to the “curse of fourth”, the defending champion men’s eight could only finish third behind New Zealand and Germany.
      Team GB’s men’s eight won the bronze medal after finishing behind New Zealand and GermanyCredit: AFP
      It was Britain’s second and final medal in rowing at Tokyo 2020Credit: Reuters
      Rio 2016 silver medallist Vicky Thornley came fourth in her women’s single sculls finalCredit: AP
      Despite the second medal of the regatta, it was a poor end to a miserable week, with the reaction of the crew telling its own story.
      And the nightmare at the Sea Forest Waterway could have a massive long-term financial effect on one of Team GB’s best funded sports.
      Two-time Olympic champion James Cracknell said on BBC commentary: “We got three golds and two silvers in Rio. 
      “We come away from Tokyo – after £27million worth of investment in British rowing – with one silver and one bronze.
      “At a time when the national budget is under pressure from so many areas, is that a good investment?”
      Starting in lane five, GB including only flagbearer Mo Sbihi of the crew that won in Rio, were in the race from the start, headed only by Germany at the 500m mark.
      By half-way, though, New Zealand were in front, with GB just 0.07secs behind and Germany third.
      The British crew of Josh Bugakski, Jacob Dawson, Tom George, Sbihi, Charlie Elwes, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, James Rudkin and Tom Ford, coxed by Henry Fieldman, had no answer as the Kiwis pushed clear in the third 500m.
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      And as they battled to stay in the frame, they were also overtaken by the Germans, holding on for bronze.
      It meant they did add to the silver won in the quad scull.
      But that represented a terrible performance from a team that had topped the rowing medals table for the past three Games.
      Indeed, GB had taken at least one gold in every Olympics since 1984, standing just two gold medals behind leaders USA and East Germany.
      But the retirement of long-standing coach Jurgen Grobler and a stack of experienced rowers took a heavy toll as the team significantly under-achieved to face a major effort to retain their lottery funds.
      Earlier, Thornley, who partnered Katherine Grainger to silver in Rio, became the latest and last of the fourth place finishers in the single scull, behind New Zealand’s Emma Twigg.

      Thornley wanted to be in the race by the half-way mark but found herself fifth through the first 500m, 1.51 seconds behind Twigg.
      She looked as if she might drop to the bottom of the pile but with 500m to go it was clear she was locked in a scrap for third with Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig.
      Thornley gave it everything in the final burst but was not able to close the gap and finished a third of a length behind the Austrian, with Hanna Prakatsen of Russia second.
      Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont claimed the silver medal in the men’s quadruple sculls which was Britain’s best resultCredit: PA
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      Tokyo 2020: US silver medallist swimmer Erica Sullivan reveals she trained in ‘gross’ duck poo and ‘green-brown’ pool

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      TEAM USA swimmer Erica Sullivan has revealed how she trained in duck poo en route to scooping a silver medal at the Tokyo Games.The 20-year-old was pipped to the gold medal in the women’s 1500m freestyle event by compatriot Katie Ledecky.
      Erica Sullivan won the silver medal for Team USA in the women’s 1500m freestyle eventCredit: Getty
      American youngster Sullivan finished behind her team-mate Katie Ledecky at Tokyo 2020Credit: AP
      It was a remarkable swim from the Las Vegas native who has spoken of how difficult her training was in the build-up to competing in Japan.
      Due to the coronavirus pandemic, access to swimming pools was restricted, with athletes forced to look elsewhere to train.
      Some unorthodox methods involved swimmers using paddling pools, while Sullivan opted to train in Lake Mead, located 24 miles off the Las Vegas strip.
      And the American has remarked how the water was often ‘brown-green’ – resembling the murky water from pools at Rio 2016.
      Quoted by Yahoo, Sullivan said of Lake Mead: “There was just duck poop everywhere.
      “And it was murky and a solid brown-green on a good day.
      “It was just gross. We were getting duck mites, apparently they like to eat on ducks’ poop and they like still water.
      “We’d get in the water and we were covered in bites. It was nasty.
      “It built character. I’m funnier because of it.”
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      Sullivan also discussed the death of her father who passed away when she was 16 – just four weeks before she made the national team.
      Speaking in her press conference, she said: “The last five years, I’ve had a lot of struggles, and I think everyone knows that. It’s pretty much (an) open book now.
      “But it feels good to have it all finally pay off, and I really hope I can be like a beacon of hope to anyone who’s struggling with mental health or coming out or any minority that they are, to show that there’s hope.
      “And honestly me getting to do it here, where half my family is from, means the world.”
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      Helen Glover has emotional message for kids as mum-of-three suffers Tokyo 2020 medal heartbreak on inspirational return

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      HELEN GLOVER had a special message for her kids after her Olympic comeback ended in an agonising fourth place.The inspirational rower failed to make a medal-winning comeback on her return from becoming a mum.
      Helen Glover and Polly Swann finished fourth in the women’s coxless pair final at Tokyo 2020Credit: Getty
      Glover delivered a passionate speech to kids after she and Swann came up short
      The 2012 and 2016 pairs champ and new partner Polly Swann have always had their backs against the wall at the Sea Forest Waterway.
      New Zealanders Grace Prenderghast and Kerri Gowler, who have looked the class act from the start of the regatta, set a world and Olympic record in the semis yesterday.
      And as the Kiwi pair rowed away from the field again, Glover and Swann saw their bronze hopes fade and die as they could not haul back the fast-starting Canadian boat as Russia took silver.
      It was a dose of hard reality for Glover, 35, who took time out of the sport after her Rio gold with Heather Stanning, having three kids with TV presenter hunny Steve Backshall while her boat partner returned to her role in the Army.
      Addressing her children Logan, Kit and Willow, Glover added: “They’re sometimes up at this time in the morning so they might be watching now.
      “I love them so much, they’ve been my inspiration. I never saw myself getting back in a rowing boat until they came along. You can do anything you want to do.
      “Trying and failing is not a problem, as long as you try. All the parents who have supported me on the way, thank you for your messages.”
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      The three-time world champion only announced she was coming back to the water in January, making the task of landing a third successive Olympic crown unlikely.
      And so it proved although it was the Canadian boat, in lane one, who flew off the start.
      The Canadians led at 500m with GB third behind New Zealand and were still ahead of the same pairings at the half-way mark.
      But New Zealand, with both rowers also part of the eight, came through to take the lead in the third quarter of the race as Glover and Swann lost third place to the Russian boat.
      As Russia tried to hunt down the leaders, Glover and Swann were hoping that the Canadians would fade to allow them into the top three.
      It was not to be, with GB finishing a length and a half off the Canadians.
      Glover told BBC: “I’m pleased that we put everything on the line. We knew it was going to be a really big final to be in.
      “Getting here was a tough route. We knew that if we crossed the line having spent everything. Looking back on the way we got here, we’re pleased with that result. It shows a lot of our hard work.”
      And emotional Swann then remarked: “I think we always knew in the Olympic final people were going to go out hard.
      “We thought we might have a bit more of a buffer but it wasn’t to be.

      “The way we have attacked this project has been really exceptional and I couldn’t be prouder of her and what we’ve done together, it’s been a special ride.”
      But while Glover and Swann could have no complaints, there was pure heartbreak for the lightweight double scull of Emily Craig and Imogen Grant as they missed out on a medal by just ONE HUNDREDTH of a second.
      The pair led through the first 500m but looked to be rowed out by a Dutch attack and closing sprints from Italy and France.
      But as Italy pushed through in the final 50m, the Dutch, defending champions from Rio, literally stopped rowing two strokes from the line.
      It appeared that Grant and Craig had taken third, with the Dutch in despair, but a photo-finish went against the Brits by maybe three inches.
      And Vicky Thornley produced an excellent row to reach the final of the single sculls, although Emma Twigg of New Zealand of New Zealand looks unstoppable.
      Thornley, who won silver with Katherine Grainger in Rio, kept her form and composure to finish second behind the Kiwi in the semi and looks set to contest the silver and bronze medals with Russia’s Hanna Prakatsen and Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig.
      Emily Craig and Imogen Grant missed out on a bronze medal by by just one HUNDREDTH of a secondCredit: PA
      Team GB duo Craig and Grant were just pipped to the finish line by Holland
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      Tokyo 2020: Dina Asher-Smith carrying British track & field hopes on her shoulders – but she is NOT feeling the heat

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      SHE WILL single-handedly carry the hopes of a British track-and-field gold at these Olympics.But as Dina Asher-Smith prepares to start her Tokyo campaign, there is little sign of the 25-year-old Londoner feeling the heat.
      Dina Asher-Smith isn’t feeling the pressure to deliver a medal at the Tokyo OlympicsCredit: AFP
      Asher-Smith won a gold medal at the 2019 World championships in Doha in the 200mCredit: Getty
      Crowned Britain’s first female world sprint champion in Doha in 2019, Asher-Smith’s smile belies an ice-cold temperament.
      She is a heavy sleeper who loves a lie-in and is a self-styled ‘championship performer’, who rises to the big occasions.
      Stages do not come any grander than an Olympics and as the Tokyo Games heads into its centre-piece athletics meeting, all British eyes will be on Asher-Smith.
      With Britain’s only other current world athletics champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, still suffering the after-effects of a ruptured Achilles, Asher-Smith stands alone as a serious gold medal contender.
      During the London Olympics, the ‘Inspire a Generation’ motto often sounded overblown.
      But Asher-Smith, a schoolgirl kit-carrier on the night Britain won three athletics golds on Super Saturday, is proof of the effectiveness of that slogan.
      There is no chance of a similar British track-and-field gold rush this time around, with Mo Farah the last of the class of 2012 to bow out of contention and British athletics at a low ebb.
      But nine years after that Olympic work experience stint in her hometown, Asher-Smith kicks off her 100 metres campaign in the heats in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
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      She said: “I volunteered to do kit carrying in London and I was fortunate to be given that Saturday, which obviously I didn’t know was going to end up being Super Saturday.
      “I remember being kind of disappointed that I wasn’t going to see Usain Bolt in the men’s 100m final, but when I got there and witnessed probably one of the greatest nights in British athletics history I felt incredibly lucky.
      “To describe the atmosphere that night to somebody who wasn’t there is incredibly difficult. The closest word is probably ‘euphoric’.”
      While she must compete in silence at these behind-closed-doors games, Asher-Smith has a burning ambition to repeat, or even better, her Doha campaign, which brought a 200m gold as well as silvers in the 100m and the sprint relay.
      If she lands gold, it will be a truly historic achievement.
      No female British sprinter has ever won an Olympic title and none have landed an individual medal since Dorothy Hyman way back in 1960. 
      Neither has any British man won individual sprint gold since Linford Christie in 1992, nor any medal since Darren Campbell in Sydney 21 years ago.
      Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is favourite to win the 100m but Asher-Smith is first among equals in an open 200m.

      American Gabby Thomas ran the second-fastest time ever earlier this year to send shockwaves through the field.
      But as Asher-Smith said: “To me it’s immaterial what people run because a championship is a completely different ball game.
      “The reason why we all love championships is because you honestly don’t know what’s going to happen.”
      The sense of calm about Asher-Smith is helped by the fact that she has only ever had one coach since she started running aged eight — John Blackie of Blackheath and Bromley Harriers.
      And he admitted he would have quit years ago had it not been for his star pupil.
      Blackie said: “I would have given it up some while ago if not for her but she is an inspiration, not just for athletes but also for us coaches.

      “It was around the age of 14 that things started to look very positive for Dina.
      “You still didn’t know she would end up as 200m world champion but you knew she was capable of some really spectacular achievements.
      “There is definitely more to come from her.”
      Four-time European champion Asher-Smith is looking to become Britain’s first female 100m or 200m winner at the OlympicsCredit: Instagram / @dinaashersmith
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      Olympic swimming star Adam Peaty says Games should ditch ‘gimmicks’ and stay with core sports only

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      OLYMPIC star Adam Peaty has a longterm vision for the Olympics.
      Britain’s foremost swimmer is gunning for gold again, after starring at Rio 2016.

      Adam Peaty won the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the 100m breast-stroke eventCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
      And now, Peaty’s mind seems to work as rapidly as his whirring arms as he outlines arguments for a more slimline, sustainable Games without gimmicky new sports or facilities destined to become white elephants, while also arguing that drug cheats should be imprisoned.
      With climbing, surfing, skateboarding, baseball and karate all having been added to the schedule for the Tokyo Games, Peaty fears the profile of core Olympic sports will suffer.
      He said: “It’s not just swimming, it’s athletics, too. No disrespect to the other sports but we’re adding more sports at an unparalleled pace and that just dilutes the Olympics.
      “We need to go back to the heritage of the main Olympic sports instead of trying to find something else that could be an Olympic sport.
      “Because, eventually, if they keep following the money, we’re going to have e-sports included.
      “That might be a sport mentally but the Olympics is all supposed to be about physical prowess.
      “I think the way it’s going, the IOC will have competition from private investors for rival events that will give people what they actually want to watch.
      Peaty, 26, won three gold medals at the 2019 Wold Aquatics Championships in South KoreaCredit: PA:Press Association
      We need to go back to the heritage of the main Olympic sports instead of trying to find something else that could be an Olympic sport.”Adam Peaty
      “We’ve got to have a hard think about what is going to be popular and successful in, say, 12 years’ time. It’s getting harder and harder.”
      With the coronavirus pandemic taking hold and the Games delayed, future Olympics may have to look at a more sustainable model, says Peaty.
      And the 26-year-old is concerned about the environmental impact of building new stadia and facilities in each Olympic host city.
      He said: “As the climate-change movement goes ahead, is it sustainable to build a whole athletes’ village and all of the facilities every four years? Absolutely not — just the amount of concrete that’s required alone.
      “And in most Olympic cities the legacy isn’t there — so is it worth all the expense and resources? As climate change progresses, you’ve got to change the way you stage the Olympics.”
      With one of swimming’s greatest global stars, China’s three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang, receiving an eight-year ban for a second doping offence, Peaty believes the menace of doping can only be countered by prison sentences.
      He added: “The biggest fish has been caught. And in life you’ll always have cheats.
      Peaty proudly poses next to SunSport’s Chief Sports Reporter David KiddCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
      “You’ll have mechanical dopers in cycling. You’ll have people who are going to try and get that edge and bend the rules. Unless we start treating this cheating as criminal fraud, where you could actually go to prison, then we are never going to stop people cheating.
      “If they can make a few million quid from cheating and get away with it for six years, they don’t care.
      “But if they are criminalised and given prison time and have to pay back money to sponsors then they will think twice.”
      Peaty’s status as an almost invincible world-record holder has seen him targeted by groundless allegations of drug abuse on social media.
      He said: “You get tweeted it all the time — ‘He’s so far ahead, he must be on drugs’. But you follow me for a f*****g year and you’ll see why not!
      “I was having two drug tests a week for a long while. But are the people I’m competing against having two a week? It’s never a fair playing field.
      “In a lot of countries the problem doesn’t stem from the athletes — it is how much they are taken advantage of.
      “I can understand if you’re not from a very affluent country and someone tells you to put these substances inside you . . . they don’t care as long as their family is being fed. That’s survival instinct.
      The Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemicCredit: Alamy Live News
      Peaty believes that the Olympics should stick to its core sportsCredit: EPA
      “But it doesn’t belong in this sport. These cheats are creating an environment where kids are looking up to them and thinking, ‘I might as well cheat because it’s easier’.”
      Like many elite swimmers, Peaty is frustrated at the relative inactivity of the sport’s global governing body, Fina.
      And he believes the International Swimming League — funded by Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin and staged for the first time last year — represents the future.
      He explained: “With swimming you get a massive profile every four years and not much in between. So the ISL is the future of swimming from a marketing perspective.
      “You do have a massive fanbase, a big audience — it’s the second most-watched sport at an Olympics. Commercially, football has chewed up a lot of sports and swimming hasn’t been brought into the 21st Century.
      “But I think ISL will be successful. It’s over two hours for two days — people will come along, have a beer, enjoy it and potentially gamble on it.
      “There’s a massive gambling opportunity for swimming — fortunately or unfortunately depending on what side you’re on — but I think that can inject cash into the sport.
      “I think Fina have a few hundred million in the bank but they don’t redistribute it. I’ve got good management but how do we make more of our commercial opportunities? I’m only desirable for the time that I’m successful.
      “Fina need to get the sport on TV more. Apparently the TV rights figures they wanted from the BBC were extortionate and they could only show highlights.
      “I don’t understand why they can’t see that the more people watch it, the more the sport grows and then the more money they’ll make.
      “It just seems to be about short-term gain. I don’t know what their strategy is. But thankfully this league is here, run by a billionaire who is very clued up.”
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