Sportspad

Whoever is looking for a man of sheer determination and an incredible story of defying fate, shouldn’t have to look any further. Having both legs amputated between the knees and ankles, would put a virtual end on most peoples’ lives.

However, when it happened to Oscar Pistorius (born on 22nd November, 1976 in Pretoria, Gauteng Province) at the age of 11months, his life just began. He was keen on sports like rugby, water polo and tennis while in school (Pretoria Boys’ High School). After a serious rugby knee injury, he was introduced to athletics in January 2004 while undergoing rehabilitation. And the rest was...Eternity.

Pistorius seemingly went on a record-breaking and record-making spree after that. His career at an awed glance:

2004: He came third overall in the T44 100m event and won the finals with a world record time of 21.97 seconds the Summer Paralympics.

2005: Storius finished sixth in the South African Championships over 400m.

Despite the honorable invitation from IAAF to take part in an able-bodied event, the 400m race at the IAAF Grand Prix in Helsinki, Finland, he missed the opportunity due to school work pressure.

2006: He bagged gold in the 100, 200 and 400m events, breaking the world record over 200 m. at the Paralympics Athletics World Championships

Sprinter Marion Jones has been slapped a two-year ban by the world governing body of athletics, IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation), for doping. She has also been stripped of her Olympic and world championship titles and all her other results have been annulled. All relay teammates of Jones ( from the 2000 Sydney Olympics) have also been disqualified and stripped of their medals. Jones has also been told to return prize money, estimated at $700,000. According to IAAF spokesperson Nick Davies, Jones can compete only after she has paid back the stated amount of prize money. Therefore, though Jones has actually retired, she remains officially suspended till 7 October 2009. She would also have to give a 12 months’ notice to the IAAF if she wanted to compete again following the ban.

Jones won the 200 meter world title in 2001 and had claimed the gold medals in the 100 meter, 200 meter and the 1600 meter relay in the Sydney Olympics. She also won the bronze medals in the 400 meter relay and long jump in 2001.

It is reported that Justin Gatlin’s 8-year-long suspension on charges of doping, has been cut down to only 4 years. The 100m Olympic champ from America was banned in 2006, when he tested positive for testosterone at the low-level relay race held at Kansas in the month of April 2006. He was the winner of 100m title at the Athens Olympic in 2004 and won the world 100m and 200 m titles in 2005.

Initially, Gatlin was supposed to be given a lifelong ban! Then he willingly came forward to assist the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (Usada) anti-doping crusade and he was sentenced to 8-year-ban. After the 25-year-old appealed again against the length of suspension last summer, Usada revealed that an arbitration board had voted 2-1 in favor of the 4-year suspension.

Martina Hingis has been banned for 2 years after she was found testing positive for cocaine in a dope test, conducted during the 2007 Wimbledon championship. The Swiss star had appealed against the dope charges, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has discarded her appeal. It has declared a ban to be effective from 1 October, 2007. Hingis, who has won WTA singles title 43 times in her entire career, had just revived her game in 2006 after a gap of three years.
The tennis superstar had tested positive during the customary urine test performed after she lost to Laura Granville at the third round of the tournament. The five-time Grand Slam winner had previously defended herself persistently by saying that she was

100% innocent.

She asserted her innocence by proclaiming that her hair test, which can prove whether a person has consumed cocaine or not), was negative. The 27 year old former world number one not only retired from international sports after the doping revelation, she also had to surrender her ranking points and prize money both from the then ongoing Wimbledon series and any succeeding contests. In the month of November, 2007, her spokesperson Mario Widmer told BBC Sports,

She will be fighting this, of course. You can be clear about that.

Common sense has prevailed within the Fia independent courtroom. It is a nice feeling for Formula One fans, not to mention Mclaren driver Lewis Hamilton himself, that the championship has been decided on-track rather than in the London courtroom where Mclaren had launched their appeal to change the outcome of the championships.

It is indeed unfortunate that India is still not the country conducive enough for a rising young sports star. I am talking about our rising tennis sensation Sania Mirza. At a press conference yesterday, the 21-year old announced her decision to opt out of next month’s WTA Bangalore Open. She also said that she has decided not to play in India this year, owing to never ending controversies from religious extremists. Sania said,

I am not playing in Bangalore Open. I have been advised by my manager not to play because a lot has been happening in the past few months…Every time I have played in India, there has been some kind of problem. So we just thought it was better not to play this time… It (withdrawing from the Bangalore Open) is not an extreme reaction. The controversies have been going on for a long time. It is not easy to deal with such stuff…

There is something that makes you sit up and take notice when great men choose to demonstrate the magic of their craft. It is probably all those PGA titles that make you take notice when he speaks, but irrespective of the reasons; when Tiger Woods speaks, the world pays close attention. But then I must confess that even a Tiger woods teeing off cannot keep me up when I start watching golf. I mean, I rarely even feel like watching it and even when I will myself to do so, it is not long before I doze off.

Arena World Cup in Berlin has become judging ground for world’s top swimmers who are preparing themselves for the Beijing Olympic Games. In the two-day event, Swedish Stefan Nystrand has made two world records. The 26-year-old and a freestyle and breaststroke swimmer, Nystrand has bettered the world record in the men’s 50-meter freestyle by clocking 20.93 seconds, and a day earlier, a world record in the 100-meter freestyle by finishing in 45.83 seconds. He said,

It’s my aim to keep on improving, especially with regard to the Olympic Games next year. I would like to capture two gold medals there.

West Ham left it late to inflict a surprising 2-1 defeat on Manchester United. Title holders and league leaders Manchester United headed into Saturday’s fixture at Upton Park full of confidence. They were in for a rude shock as a late charge by the Hammers handed them a defeat.

United started brightly enough and the opener was scored by Ronaldo in 14th minute itself. He headed home a Ryan Giggs cross. Thereafter, however, the inform midfielder was guilty of missing a penalty in the 2nd half, after a handball by Jonathon Spector.

Spanish driver and double formula one champion Fernando Alonso is set to start a new chapter in his racing career and that also in familiar working conditions. Come 2008 season the former Mclaren driver would once more wear the colours of French team Renault where he made his name as a racing champion. Although many doubt the prospects of Alonso’s success in the team given Renault’s below-par performance last season, the Spaniard is determined to make a mark in his old team.