Sportspad

Here is another story of an Olympian athlete’s fall from grace. American athlete Marion Jones had been sentenced by an US District Judge to six months of imprisonment for lying about steroid use and involvement in a fraud case. Jones, the 2000 Sydney Olympics winner of 100m, 200m and 4×400m relay gold medals, 4×100m relay, and long jump bronze medals had earlier surrendered her medals on being found guilty of steroid use.

Since then, her names had been expunged from the record books. Her problems multiplied last October, when she admitted that she has lied to a federal investigator in November 2003 that she had never used performance-enhancing drugs. The second charge against the athlete was of conniving with her former boyfriend sprinter Tim Montgomery in lying before a federal investigator in a cheque fraud case. Jones’ six months prison term will begin from 11 March.

This year’s Formula One season would be remembered more for the off-track drama rather than the brilliant title-winning performance by Kimi Raikonen in Brazil and the rookie driver Lewis Hamilton’s rise to the racing folklore in his very first season. Starting from the spying scandal to the current court speculation over the decision regarding the driver’s championship, the 2007 season has been far from ideal for the FIA’s efforts to make Formula One driving a spectacle to watch compared to other sporting events.

Probably for the first time in US football history, an act of cruelty has been committed. Pro football star Michael Vick admitted to manhandling of dogs and his involvement in the illegal activity of dogfights. As a result, he is sentenced to 23 months behind the bars. This is clearly a case of injustice against the animals.

Vick is a former Atlanta quarterback. The former football pro has been suspended from the NFL and it is not very clear whether he is going to play ever again. I guess this is what he gets for treating all those dogs like that.

The undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world held off stiff competition to win the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award on Sunday. And this is none other than Joe Calzaghe. Ten sporting celebrities competed for the public vote on the night during the live show. The public voted for their BBC Sports Personality of the Year by telephone during the show.

The shortlist of ten contenders was put together by an expert panel of leading sporting experts from a selection of more than 30 newspaper sports editors (national and regional) and magazines and the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year panel of 12 sporting experts.

Calzaghe lost out last year in the poll to equestrian Zara Phillips and joked then that he was not disappointed. He confessed after his win that though he said he didn’t care last year, he had lied.

Top seed Roger Federer has ended the tennis season by winning his fourth Masters Cup in the Chinese city of Shanghai. Spain’s David Ferrer was no match for the Swiss tennis maestro as Federer walked away with his 53rd career title after a devastating display of all-round tennis.

Ferrer, who is yet to win against Federer after eight matches between the two, was the only unbeaten player in the competition. Convincing performances against fellow countryman and friend Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick earlier in the tournament gave David Ferrer’s fans and neutrals hope of putting one aside past the world number one. But as many cases before, the great Federer stores his best tennis for the final. The 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 scoreline certainly proves the greatness of the man from Basel.

It is inspiring indeed to see some of the toughest men on the planet battle it out across the heights of Alps & then finish on the Champs- Elysees to be crowned as the champions. It is unbelievable when you watch Lance Armstrong attack on the slopes of the Alps, Michael Rasmussen dance away with ease over the mountain stages, Alexander Vinokourov launch an attack after attack from the ‘peloton’ & Boonen & Hunter fight it out at the sprint finishes. ‘Tour De France’, I must confess, is the only cycling event that I ever watch & I do so with great enthusiasm. While I do keep myself aware of the results of ‘Giro de Italia’, it never makes me television set.

Paul Haarhuis beat John McEnroe in the quarter finals of BlackRock Masters Tennis tournament at London’s Royal Albert Hall. McEnroe was defeated by 6-2 6-3.

In other quarterfinals Pioline beat Ferreira by 6-3 6-4, Bruguera beat Bates 6-3 6-4 while Forget beat Rusedski by 2-6 7-5 13-11. The tournament, available for only those players who are not active in ATP is one of the UK’s most popular indoor tournaments.

According to the report of George Mitchell, Director of the Boston Red Sox Baseball team, there are many players who are using steroids and human growth hormones and he has asked Major League Baseball to form an investigation team to find out the names. MLB head Bud Selig said in a news conference that baseball fans deserve a fair game.

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in America and if such a widespread use of drugs is true, then it will be very disappointing to the fans. Among the names are Barry Bonds who denied that he had used an untraceable steroid and this was investigated by Mr Selig. In the report of Mr Mitchell it was stated that there were evidence of all the 30 major League Clubs being affected by the use of banned substances.

The traditional Chinese medicine has its origin in the thousands years old history. It is highly recommended by some for the Olympic sports stars, but on the other had it’s also forbidden for having some banned substances. These remedies have been in controversy since a long time.

The traditional remedies are made from natural products, like extracts from plants and animals. But Olympic officials argue that they contain herbal ephedrine and stimulants, which are banned for the players. A test showing positive results of these drugs creates problems for them. So these products should be avoided by the sports persons. It often leads to scandal. It has been a continuous advice for not to take these at the time of Olympic Games.

Paula Radcliffe has always been one of my favorite sportswomen of all time and with each passing day she is climbing her way to the top of my list. While it is impossible, in my own mind, to put anyone above Nadia Comaneci (’the’ perfectionist and that is a long sounding the), Paula is soon getting into the second spot. It delights me a lot that in the times when my most adored sportswomen seem to be falling down from their pedestal, (Marion Jones & Martina Hingis! Why Martina, why?) Paula has pulled off this victory. She has given birth to little Isla just 10 months back and then has come to New York to clinch another marathon title in this city.