22 Wednesday August 7, 2019
SPORTS
American sprint great Carl Lewis off ered
enthusiastic support for the Pan Am
Games on Monday, but the nine-time
Olympic champion had none for Don-
ald Trump, branding the US president a
“racist” and a “misogynist.”
Lewis, who represented the United
States at four Olympics and is widely re-
garded as one of the country’s greatest
athletes, arrived in the Peruvian capital
ahead of the start of the athletics compe-
tition on Tuesday.
When asked for his thoughts on
equality in sport, Lewis launched into a
scathing attack on Trump and his poli-
cies.
“In America we have a tremendous
challenge, there are a lot of issues going
on,” the 58-year-old African-American
told a packed news conference.
“We have a racist president, who is
prejudiced, misogynistic, who doesn’t
value anyone outside of himself, so we
have a major challenge in our country to
deal with as well.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t fi ght
for what is right for people, and look at
others where they might not have the
same opportunity, or may have been
marginalized.”
Lewis will be in Peru for six days as
a guest of honor and will award medals
for the 100-meter sprint and men’s long
jump.
While it is Lewis’ fi rst visit to Peru,
his history with the Pan Am Games
stretches back to his international debut
for the US at the 1979 edition in Puerto
Rico, where he won a bronze medal in
the long jump.
Lewis also competed at the 1987
Games in Indianapolis, Indiana, win-
ning double gold in the long jump and
4x100-meter relay.
“I turned 18 in Puerto Rico that year
and it was a very important time for me,”
recalled Lewis.
“My mother actually competed at
the very fi rst Pan Am Games in Argen-
tina, and she spoke about that and how
it aff ected her life, and in turn because
of that she really wanted us to travel as
kids.
“If it wasn’t for her and what she be-
lieved in, especially the empowerment
of women, I would not have been in ath-
letics, so that experience was big for ourfamily and extremely big for me.”
Lewis was joined on stage by another
US sprinter and former 100-meter world
record holder Leroy Burrell, who agreed
that multi-sport events like the Pan Ams
could be life changers for individual ath-
letes and countries.
Hosting the Pan Ams for the fi rst
time, Peru has already seen some of the
rewards on the medal table as they enjoy
their most successful Games ever with
23 medals.
But more important for Burrell wasthe legacy in the form of state-of-the-art
facilities that will be left behind.
“We had an opportunity to go by the
stadium today and the fi rst thing I did
was call back to the US and say, ‘Look at
this, this is amazing, the facility is out-
standing,’” said Burrell, who is now an
athletics coach.
“To walk into that facility today I was
amazed. That’s the foundation that a
champion or two will be built on.”ReutersBalotelli open to playing for Parents blamed for former No.1 Ko’s slump
Brazil’s Flamengo: reports
u Sprint great calls US president ‘racist,’ ‘misogynist’
Athletics legend Lewis lashes Trump
uGOLFGolfer Lydia Ko’s ex-coach
blamed her parents for her
slide down the rankings on
Tuesday, accusing them of mis-
handling the former world No.1
golfer and “turning her into or-
dinary.”
“It really is a very sad situ-
ation to observe,” US-based
coach David Leadbetter told
Radio Sport, as he implored the
Korean-born New Zealander’s
parents to ease up on the one-
time prodigy.
“Her team have to be think-
ing that they have made some
huge mistakes taking an un-
believably talented player and
turning her into ordinary,”
Leadbetter said.
“I hope she gets it back but
restoring confi dence is never
the easiest thing to do. Her
parents have a lot to answer
for – a case of unbelievable ig-
norance.”Ko was the youngest ever
world No.1 as a 17-year-old, but
now aged 22 she has slumped
to No.24 after missing last
week’s British Open cut by a
whopping 10 shots.
Leadbetter said Ko, who has
gone through a succession of
coaches and caddies since turn-
ing pro, needed to be given the
freedom to manage her own af-
fairs.
“I’m angry, I’m sad because
to me I know what she’s ca-
pable of doing. And to see her
play like this, it’s just very sad
to see,” Leadbetter said.
“I think her parents need
to sort of let her go and do her
thing. She’s 21-22 years of age
now. She could control her own
career. She should know what’s
best for her.”
Under her fi rst coach Guy
Wilson, Ko was the world’s top-
ranked amateur for 130 weeks,
won two LPGA tour events and
never missed a cut in 25 profes-sional tournaments.
After joining Leadbetter in
2013, she won 17 titles includ-
ing two majors (2015 Evian
Championship and 2016 ANA
Inspiration) on the LPGA Tour
and an Olympic silver medal in
Rio in 2016.
But since that three-year
relationship ended in Decem-
ber 2016, Ko, who signed with
sportswear giant Nike the fol-
lowing month, has won only
one tournament and slipped
down the rankings.
She said at the time that the
split with Leadbetter was her
decision but that she had dis-
cussed it with her parents, who
“are wishing the very best for
me and it’s because they care
and love me.”AFPuSOCCER
Italian striker Mario Balotelli,
who has been looking for a
new club since his contract
with Marseille ended in June, is
open to playing for Flamengo,
the Rio de Janeiro side said
Monday.
“There has been contact and
he was interested in the idea of
playing here,” Rodolfo Landim
was quoted by Brazilian media
as saying. “He is a great player,
without a doubt. But a lot can
change before he signs with us.
“It’s true that he is free [ from
any contract],” Landim said,
adding that Flamengo offi cials
had already met the 28-year-old
player in Europe.
Sky Sport in Italy reported at
the weekend the possibility of
Balotelli joining Flamengo for
two and a half years.
The striker, who played for
Italy in Brazil during the 2013
Confederations Cup and the
2014 World Cup, has never
hidden his fascination for the
country’s soccer.
He has also played for Inter
Milan, AC Milan, Manchester
City and Liverpool.
Sitting in third spot in the
Brazilian championship, Fla-
mengo have been active in
the transfer market recently,
recruiting ex-Bayern Munich
defender Rafi nha and former
Atletico Madrid fullback Filipe
Luis.
It comes as Brazil captain
Dani Alves returns home after
signing a three-year deal with
Sao Paulo.
Spanish international Juan-
fran, another former Atletico
player, is also joining the side,
the club said Saturday.AFPFormer US Olympian and multiple gold medal
winner Carl Lewis (left) and sprinter Leroy
Burrell look on during a press conference on
Monday in Lima, Peru. Photo: VCGPage Editor:
wanghuayun@
globaltimes.com.cn