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News -- 2008
Ivanovic wins first major 8 June
WTA: Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva couldn't finish her off earlier on in the tournament but on Saturday afternoon, Ana Ivanovic was the one who finally ended Dinara Safina's incredible win streak, and after all was said and done the world No.2 - who will ascend to No.1 for the first time on the new rankings - won her very first Grand Slam title.
Since winning at Indian Wells in March, Ivanovic hadn't been in the best form. She reached the semifinals of Berlin but was beaten early at Miami and Rome; but like she has done so many times over the last year it took one of the world's greatest stages for her to find her best footing. She was tested in the first round against Sofia Arvidsson but she was barely tested in four straight matches to reach the semifinals of Roland Garros.
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Macfarlane smashes records
Tasmanian Donna MacFarlane has smashed the Australian and Oceania record in winning the bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the IAAF Golden League meeting in Oslo, Norway, 7 June.
MacFarlane, whose long time coach and mentor Max Cherry passed away last month, produced the race of her career to clock 9min 18.35 seconds.
The time is the eighth fastest ever for the event that will make its Olympic debut in Beijing andsliced nearly six seconds off Melissa Rollison’s national mark of 9:24.29 set at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. MacFarlane’s previous best of 9:25.05 was set in winning the bronze behind Rollison’s silver in Melbourne.
In a race billed as “the greatest women’s steeplechase field ever assembled”, the race was won by world record holder Gulnara Galkina of Russia in 9min14.77sec; world champion Yekaterina Volkova of Russia was second in 9:18.24.
MacFarlane ran a controlled race and moved through the field to lie in sixth place with two laps remaining before beginning to make her presence felt on the final lap.
With Galkina outside her own world record (9:01.59) but still with a comfortable lead, MacFarlane moved into fourth place in the finishing straight. Despite knocking her knee and stumbling away from the last barrier, she recovered quickly and in a sprint finish was narrowly held out by world champion Volkova in a finish that saw 0.19 seconds separating second to fourth.
“It’s not often that I get out sprinted to the line, but I had the world champion in my sights and I was a bit eager to beat her,” an ecstatic MacFarlane said after the race.
“In the end I hit my knee and was lucky to stay on my feet,”
MacFarlane, 30, who is now guided by Cathy Freeman’s former coach Peter Fortune, has been based in Belgium for the past fortnight, travelling with husband Marty and her two children Marcella, 6, and Gabriel, 3, in order to have the best possible Games build-up.
“It was special for me to run well in Oslo because Max was here with me last year,” MacFarlane said in reference to her former coach.
After a disastrous world championships campaign is Osaka last year, where she lost her shoe just 50m from the start line in her opening heat, MacFarlane is putting together an impressive string of performances, including World Athletic Tour wins in Melbourne and Doha and now a podium finish and Australian record in Oslo.
Olympic sponsorship is no bargain
The Age: When the world's athletes line up for competition in this year's Beijing Olympics, it will be the result of years of hard work and training. But for the companies who sought to link themselves with the Games, their involvement will be the result of a gruelling bidding process in which only the firms with the deepest pockets make it over the line.
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England loses netball captain
Netball Australia: England will select a new captain to lead their charge against current World Champions, Australia in the Holden Netball Test Series here later this year.
Their 31-year-old skipper, Amanda Newton has announced her retirement from international netball after a career spanning 100 Test match appearances over 12 years.
Newton says it`s time to concentrate on her teaching career.
“I’ve enjoyed being part of a really competitive England side, a team with a passion to win, but you know when it’s time to go,” she said.
“I’m older now and I’ve got to think about my career in teaching.”
After making her debut against Jamaica in 1996, she was appointed to the captaincy role in 2006.
Newton rates as one of her career highlights England’s upset victory in May 2007 over the then world number one side, the New Zealand Silver Ferns.
England’s Director of Netball, Nigel Holl said Newton had made a considerable contribution to the success of the England team.
“Amanda’s record speaks for itself – a long-term and very significant contribution to England,” he said.
“She has led the team with a real passion for success and an absolute desire to be the best. That determination shows itself on court, off court and in the way in which Amanda strove to get back to full fitness following injuries.
“Amanda has played a very important and significant role in helping the next generation of new players into the squad."
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Dibaba sets new world record
Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia smashed the women's 5000m world record by 5.48 seconds at the Golden League meeting in Oslo on Friday.
She clocked 14 minutes 11.15 seconds to better her compatriot Meseret Defar's mark of 14:16.63 set also at at the Golden League meeting in Oslo last year.
Kenya's Lucy Wangui finished second in 14:33.49, ahead of another Ethiopian Ejegayehu Dibaba in 14:36.78.
Beijing Olympics
Young Bishop finds herself at the top
WNBL: Abby Bishop had been playing basketball less than a year when she watched the Opals win silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Now 19, Bishop finds herself the youngest member of the 15-woman Opals squad that flew into Cairns yesterday for a five-day training camp.
A netballer in her younger days growing up in country South Australia, Bishop said she was surprised to still be in contention for the final cut of 12 who will head to the Beijing Olympics.
"I never thought for a second that I would make it this far," she said.
"I think this is more a development thing for me and getting me ready for the future.
"It’s been a great experience. The older girls do take you under their wing and I’ve learned heaps and a lot of different things about my game."
Bishop and the rest of her teammates will not have much time for sight-seeing while in the Far North with preparation for Beijing reaching its final stages.
After winning the 2006 World Championships and taking part in the last two gold medal play-offs, the Opals can expect plenty of attention from opposition teams and the public at the Olympics.
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Petersen chases title 6
LPGA: Five-time LPGA Tour winner Suzann Pettersen, of Norway, will return to Bulle Rock Golf Course, USA, to defend what was her second title in 2007 and first career major championship.
Pettersen and 149 other players are in pursuit of the $300,000 winner's check from the $2 million purse as well as the final of eight first half automatic berths into the ADT Championship via LPGA Playoffs 2008.
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