Greg Bell, oldest living Olympic gold medallist in athletics dies
Washington, Jan 29: American long jump great Greg Bell, who had been the oldest living Olympic gold medallist in athletics, has died at the age of 94. Bell breathed his last on January 25, according to World Athletics which paid tribute to the 1956 Olympic long jump gold medallist. “World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Greg Bell, the 1956 Olympic long jump champion, died on Saturday at the age of 94. He had been the oldest living Olympic gold medallist in athletics,” it said. Bell was the world’s leading men’s long jumper of the 1950s. As well as winning the Olympic title in Melbourne, his personal best of 8.10m he produced in Austin, USA in 1957 was just three centimetres off the world record that had been set by Jesse Owens in 1935. (PTI)
Srikanth advances to second round of Thailand Masters
Patumwan (Thailand), Jan 29: Former world no.1 Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth entered the second round of the Thailand Masters BWF Super 300 event with a straight-game win over his opponent here on Wednesday. Srikanth defeated Israel’s Danii Dubovenko 21-13, 21-18 in the men’s singles opening round. This is Srikanth’s second straight win over Dubovenko, having defeated him previously in the 2024 Macau Open back in September 2024. Srikanth will next face Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan. Among other Indians in men’s singles, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian defeated Malaysia’s June Wei Cheam 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 in a tough three-game contest. He will next be up against Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo. Ayush Shetty was shown the door by Malaysia’s Jing Hong Kok 15-21, 17-21, while Mithun Manjunath lost to another Malaysian in Sholeh Aidil 14-21, 13-21 in men’s singles. In mixed doubles, the pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde defeated Thailand’s Weeraphat Phakjarung and Sararat Chueboca 21-8, 21-16 to advance to the second round. (PTI)
Gukesh beats Mendonca to jump into sole lead Wijk Aan
Zee (The Netherlands), Jan 29: World Champion D Gukesh crashed through the defences of compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round to jump into sole lead at the Tata Steel Master here. On a day when R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game against Dutch GM Anish Giri, veteran P Harikrishna also found himself under the spotlight, falling to Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev. “I’m happy that I played a good game today and there are still four rounds left so I’m not thinking much about the standings. I’m just happy as to how I am playing,” Gukesh said after his game. With the win, Gukesh took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible nine and a half points ahead of Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Russian turned Slovenian Fedoseev, who are both on 6 points. Praggnanadhaa on 5.5 points shares the fourth spot and it remains to be seen if things are going to get better for the Indian. (PTI)
Jerry Holness appointed as Indian women’s 400m coach
New Delhi, Jan 29: Renowned Jamaican athletics coach Jerry Lee Holness, who has mentored the likes of multiple Olympics and World Championships gold medallist sprinters Elaine Thompson and Nesta Carter, has taken charge of the Indian women’s 400m team ahead of some high-profile events coming up this year. Holness joined the National Centre of Excellence at the Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education in Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday. (PTI)