B6 Saturday/Sunday, August 6-7, 2016, Bangor Daily News
Uchimura, Douglas seek back-to-back golds REUTERS
RIO DE JANEIRO — With their graceful lines and soaring tumbles, Japan’s Kohei Uchimura and American Gabby Douglas will be attempting to pull off a feat in the RIO GAMES Rio Games that NOTEBOOK no gymnast has accomplished in over 40 years — capturing back-to-back all-around Olympic golds. After collecting every Olympic and world all-around title since taking silver at the 2008 Beijing Games, the man known as Supermura will be favorite to become the first man since Japanese compatriot Sawao Kato in 1972 to win successive Olympic titles in the event that tests skills across six apparatus. For Douglas, though, things are not as clear cut. Since Douglas’ success in London, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles has turned into a one-woman demolition squad — crushing anyone who comes before her with her explosive tumbles as she became the first woman to win a three-peat of all-around golds at the worlds. She is such an unstoppable force that in just three years she has become the most successful female gymnast at the worlds with a haul of 10 golds. That is the kind of opposition that Douglas needs to overcome to become only the third woman, after Russia’s Larisa Latynina (1956-60) and Czech Vera Caslavska (1964-68), to win back-to-back all around titles. ”In terms of Gabby Douglas and Kohei Uchimura, both are capable of winning gold medals in Rio,” Latynina, whose record of winning 18 Olympic medals was surpassed by swimmer Michael Phelps four years ago, told Reuters.
”I am amazed by the physical preparation that Douglas is showing and the level of skill that Uchimura shows. ”However, I don’t think they have much chance of winning 18 Olympic medals,” she added, breaking down in laughter. While Latynina’s record of being the most successful gymnast is not under threat, Biles could become the first female gymnast to win five golds at a single Games as she collected four golds and a minor medal at each of the last two world championships. Before any individual golds can be won, collective national pride will be on the line. Japan will be looking to end China’s Olympic dominance in the men’s team final on Monday while the U.S. women will be out to maintain their supremacy a day later as they are unbeaten in every global meet since 2011 — winning three successive world titles and the 2012 Olympic gold. ”The Americans are phenomenal. They’ve been dominating the sport now for over a decade. I don’t really think they have any competition for the team gold as they’ve been winning every world championships by leaps and bounds for a long time,” 1996 Olympic champion Kerri Strug told Reuters. ”It’s exciting on one level that USA gymnastics has come so far but in terms of watching the competition, it’s not exciting because we are so much better than everyone else.” The collective strength of China means that since 1994, Chinese men have won 10 of 12 world championship team titles and three of the five Olympic golds on offer. Japan, who captured five straight Olympic golds from 1960 to 1976, did climb to the top of the podium in Athens in 2004 but that
”All I can think about is how much I want team gold. That’s everything,” Uchimura, who owns a record six successive world all around golds, told Reuters.
Cypriot, Greek competitors test positive for drugs
Cypriot weightlifter Antonis Martasidis and an unnamed Greek competitor have tested positive for banned substances and have been expelled from the Rio Olympics, their teams said on Friday. Martasidis tested positive for banned substances in a doping control conducted on July 25 in Athens and has had his Games accreditation stripped, the Cypriot Olympic Committee said. The unidentified Greek competitor’s A sample tested positive for banned substances in a pre-Games test also conducted in July in Athens and the athlete has left the Olympic village. Martasidis, who was to compete in the 85 kilogram category, had arrived in Rio hours earlier only to be informed of a positive test from an out-of-competition doping control, his team said. These cases bring the number of positive tests announced since the teams arrived in Rio to three, after an Irish boxer was provisionally suspended on Thursday for failing a dope test. “The leadership of the (Greek) Olympic team in Rio announces MARK REIS | COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE | TNS the positive first sample of a memU.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas practices her floor routine on Thursday ber of the team during drugs testduring a training session at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, ing conducted in early July in AthBrazil. ens,” the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) said of the unnamed was during the pre-Uchimura era. But having finally toppled competitor. Since Uchimura’s arrival on the China from their lofty perch at last The Greek athlete’s name won’t world stage, Japan have had to year’s world championships in be made public until the B-sample make do with silver medals be- Glasgow, Uchimura hopes he can had been tested or the athlete hind champions China in 2008 and now lead his band of Japanese waived the right for the second 2012. brothers to Rio glory. test.
Holt rallies Red Sox by Mariners in 11th US officials face THE SPORTS XCHANGE
SEATTLE — Still clinging to their place in the American League East race, the Boston MAJOR Red Sox have been a LEAGUES big hit away from making a move in the standings. Brock Holt finally delivered with a one-out, RBI single in the 11th inning, lifting the Red Sox to a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night. The Red Sox (59-48) managed a split of the four-game series after dropping the middle two contests. Entering Friday’s games, they moved within two games of the AL East co-leaders, the
Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. “We go into every game as a must-win,” Holt said, “especially with the way the Blue Jays and Orioles are playing. They’ve been winning, so we’ve got to keep winning. It’s three good teams, and it should be a fun final two months.” Holt, who entered the game in the seventh inning, drove a pitch from Cody Martin up the middle to drive in Travis Shaw. Martin (1-2) was the sixth pitcher used by a Mariners, and he gave up a leadoff single to Shaw and a sacrifice bunt by Sandy Leon. Brad Ziegler came on in the bottom of the 13th to earn his third save of the
season after Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel (2-3) ended the ninth and struck out the side in the 10th. “Obviously, that’s a mustwin situation when you see (Kimbrel) come into the (ninth) like that with the score tied,” Shaw said. Seattle (54-53) got a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 11th but ended up stranding the runner on third base when Ziegler struck out pinch hitter Seth Smith to finish off the win. Shaw went 2-for-5 with a solo home run. Teammate Mookie Betts added a pair of hits and an RBI. Seattle rookie Ariel Miranda, making his first major league start and his debut as a Mariner, turned
in a solid night but was not involved in the decision. Miranda, who was acquired in a deadline deal that sent veteran starter Wade Miley to Baltimore, allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings. Boston’s Drew Pomeranz gave up two runs on four hits over six innings. Shawn O’Malley had three hits for the Mariners, including his first home run of the season in the fifth. Boston’s David Ortiz, playing what was likely to be his final game at Safeco Field, went 1-for-5 and received two ovations — after his at-bats in the eighth and 10th innings — as the local Red Sox fans twice said goodbye to the retiring 40-year-old designated hitter.
UFC Continued from Page B4 Ramos (9-1) had suffered his first pro loss on a previous edition of “Lookin’ for a Fight” taped in Houston, Texas, but rebounded with a fairly dominant performance against 7-3 Khashakyan, a training partner of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Ramos used his wrestling strength to control the fight from the outset, scoring four first-period takedowns and continuing to control the action in the second round until securing the submission. One of the top Maine fighters on the card, NEF lightweight champion Powell of South Berwick, shook off an apparent broken nose suffered early in the first round to improve his record to 8-1 with a first-round submission of Jon Lemke of Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer. Lacey brought White to his feet at the end of the second and third rounds as he came back to score a split decision over John Santos of Hooksett, New Hampshire, in a featherweight matchup. Santos controlled the standup battle in the first round, but Lacey countered in the second round and then won a more tightly contested third round to win the bout 29-28 on two of the three judges’ scorecards. The third judge scored it 30-26 for Santos. “I feel like that was the changing point for sure,” said Lacey of the second round. “I feel like he probably won that first round, he clipped me pretty good but I made some adjustments. I wasn’t going to lose in front of my home town.” Lacey said he received some positive post-fight praise from the guest of honor. “Dana was impressed with the fight. He said he liked it, and that’s always good news,” said Lacey, 2-0 as a pro. “I fought a tough, durable guy with a lot more experience, and he pointed that
Rio Continued from Page B4 that I think brings more excitement to the sport.” Russia took the bronze in 2012 but two of that quartet — Vladimir Morozov
ASHLEY CONTI | BDN
Fans cheer and hold up signs as Dana White enters the arena as part of the reality program “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight” event at the Cross Insurance Center grand ballroom in Bangor on Friday. Five Bangor-area fighters were on the card. out. He was impressed with it, and that’s what matters. “Getting a compliment from that guy means a lot,” he added. Sanders followed with a hard-fought unanimous decision of Derrick Kennington of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Sanders used his quickness to fend off the larger Kennington, winning 30-27 on two scorecards and 29-28 on the third. Harvey opened the night with a firstround stoppage of Zenon Herrera of Skowhegan. Harvey, the former wrestling standout from Dexter Regional High School, relied mostly on his striking and kick game to wear down Herrera, a late replacement. Harvey finally took Herrera to the mat against the cage wall and landed a succession of right hands to prompt referee John English to halt the fight at 3:47 of the opening round. Ewer, a father of three who serves full
and Nikita Lobintsev — will be absent due to the doping scandal that has overshadowed the run-up to Rio. The shadow of the past also hangs over Saturday’s men’s 400 freestyle, won in 2012 by China’s Sun Yang ahead of South
tough questions over abuse report BY STEVE KEATING REUTERS
RIO DE JANEIRO — The United States Olympic Committee on Friday defended USA Gymnastics against criticism it turned a blind eye to sexual abuse and said it had no plans to conduct an investigation itself. In their opening news briefing of the Games, the USOC leadership faced questions about a report in the Indianapolis Star on Thursday that said top USA Gymnastics officials failed to alert authorities to allegations of sexual abuse by coaches. Reuters has not independently verified the report. While not addressing the specifics of the allegations, USA Gymnastics said it encouraged any victims of abuse to report their allegations to police — something echoed by the USOC. The USOC said it would not conduct an investigation itself and defended USA Gymnastics as one of the leaders in developing policies to protect athletes. “We do not intend to investigate … we do however have what we think is a state-of-theart policy regarding abuse and misconduct,” said USOC chief executive officer Scott Blackmun said, just hours before the Games’ opening ceremony. “I will say since we became more focused on this issue in 2010, like many others, USA Gymnastics has been one of the most vocal proponents of creating very strong policies, procedures, and investigative resources to take a look at this. “Our policy is not to investigate, it is to report any credible suggestions that
time with the Air National Guard in Bangor, needed just 45 seconds to stop Ruben Redman of Houlton. Ewer used an early left and right to send Redman to the canvas, then kept after him with a succession of blows that drew applause from White, Serra and Thompson and improved his pro record to 2-0. “You have to understand, for me coming from Maine seeing people from Maine performing at this level is so impressive to me and feels so good,” said White. “The other thing I love is that when you come to a local show like this the support these fighters get from their people is awesome. I love it.” Other winners were heavyweight Derrick Brown of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, by second-round technical knockout over Brendan Battles of Eastham, Massachusetts, and welterweight FREEHOLD, New Jersey David Mundell of Clearwater, Florida, — Wyatt Harriman allowed by unanimous decision over Jarod Law- just two hits in 4 ª innings ton of Farmingdale. to propel the Maine state champion Bronco-Hermon all-star team by Elmwood Korea’s Park Tae-hwan. Sun served a three- Little League of Rhode IsPark, the first Korean to month ban in 2014 after land 10-0 at the Junior win an Olympic swimming testing positive for a League Eastern Regional medal when he claimed banned stimulant, spent a baseball tourney Friday. gold in Beijing in 2008, com- week in jail for crashing a Harriman struck out two pleted an 18-month ban im- car driven without a li- and walked three before posed by world governing cense, and was involved in John Lauter came on to rebody FINA in March after an altercation at last cord the final out in the 10testing positive for testos- year’s world Champion- run rule contest. terone. ships. Bronco-Hermon advanced
there is abuse taking place.” USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny said the governing body had followed long standing policies. “As the CEO of USA Gymnastics, it is heartbreaking and unacceptable for a young person to have the intolerable burden that results from being a victim of sexual misconduct,” said Penny in a statement released after the USOC meeting. “We share the outrage that sexBlackmun ual assault victims and their families feel. “This is why USA Gymnastics has implemented Safe Sport training and created educational materials that encourage members to contact law enforcement first when reporting incidents of abuse.” With a large Russian contingent now looking likely to take part in the Games, Blackmun was also asked by reporters if he was comfortable watching U.S. athletes line up against competitors from a country accused of developing and operating a sophisticated state-run doping program. The USOC has been vocal in its push for a major shakeup at World Anti-Doping Agency and a overhaul of the drug-testing system following investigations that uncovered evidence of widespread state sponsored doping in Russia. The International Olympic Committee rejected imposing a blanket ban on Russia from the Games and instead set a number of criteria and turned over the decision to individual federations to determine which athletes were allowed to compete.
Bronco-Hermon all-stars post win in Eastern regional to a winners bracket game against New Jersey at 7 p.m. Saturday in the tourney for ages 12-14. Keith Pomeroy and Gavin Patridge sparked BroncoHermon with three hits each with Pomeroy driving in two runs and Patridge plating one. Sam Economy chipped in with two hits while Mychal Beaulieu drove in two runs. James Durante and Christopher Guzman each had a hit for Elmwood.