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Sprinter McEwen bemoans lack of Olympic success
Three-times Tour de France points winner Robbie McEwen would happily trade one of his green jerseys for the Olympic glory that eluded him, the experienced Australian sprinter said on Tuesday.
"I'd swap one Tour de France green jersey but only for gold," the 39-year-old said via a teleconference from Singapore.
The Brisbane-born sprinter made three failed attempts at winning an Olympic road race medal but insists that despite finishing empty-handed in 1996, 2000 and 2004, he had given it his best shot on each occasion.
"Not really disappointed, because each time I went in, I did the very best I could. No need for excuses after the race, I gave it everything.
"Each time I was a little bit better but out of the medals... but that's the nature of racing.
"To have a medal would have been very nice of course but that's part of racing and also my fellow competitors did not make it possible for me to win a medal," said the GreenEdge rider, who is participating in next month's OCBC Cycle Singapore.
McEwen added that despite major stage races taking place shortly before the Summer Games, professional riders were as enthused by the prospect of competing at the Olympics as any other athlete.
"It may not be something you build your season around but even as professionals, you want to be part of it if you get the chance.
"It is very special to represent your country at an Olympic Games, even more so than a World Championships because the Olympics are only once every four years.
"It's a very unique event and all the pro guys always get excited about going to the Olympics. I was very fortunate to go three times and it's something that I will cherish being a part of."
"I'd swap one Tour de France green jersey but only for gold," the 39-year-old said via a teleconference from Singapore.
The Brisbane-born sprinter made three failed attempts at winning an Olympic road race medal but insists that despite finishing empty-handed in 1996, 2000 and 2004, he had given it his best shot on each occasion.
"Not really disappointed, because each time I went in, I did the very best I could. No need for excuses after the race, I gave it everything.
"Each time I was a little bit better but out of the medals... but that's the nature of racing.
"To have a medal would have been very nice of course but that's part of racing and also my fellow competitors did not make it possible for me to win a medal," said the GreenEdge rider, who is participating in next month's OCBC Cycle Singapore.
McEwen added that despite major stage races taking place shortly before the Summer Games, professional riders were as enthused by the prospect of competing at the Olympics as any other athlete.
"It may not be something you build your season around but even as professionals, you want to be part of it if you get the chance.
"It is very special to represent your country at an Olympic Games, even more so than a World Championships because the Olympics are only once every four years.
"It's a very unique event and all the pro guys always get excited about going to the Olympics. I was very fortunate to go three times and it's something that I will cherish being a part of."
Kenya's Rudisha to kick off Olympic year Down Under
David Rudisha, Kenya's 800 metres world champion and world record holder, will kick off his 2012 season in two meetings in Sydney and Melbourne over the next month, Athletics Australia said on Tuesday.
After claiming the world title with an impressive display of front-running in South Korea last August, the 23-year-old will be a strong favourite to claim his first Olympic gold in London on Aug. 9.
Rudisha, who will run the 400 metres at the Sydney Track Classic on Feb. 18 and step up to the two-lap race in Melbourne on March 2-3, said he was looking forward to commencing his season Down Under, as he has for the last two years.
"The people are friendly, the meets are good and it works as a very good start to my year," he said in a news release.
"This year we of course have the Olympic Games and that is the big focus for all athletes but I want to run well throughout the year."
Rudisha, who set his 800m world record time of one minute 41.01 seconds in Italy in 2010, said running the 400m in Sydney could lead to a bid to run in the relay in London.
"My personal best in the 400m is still from when I ran in Sydney two years ago, so I'm hoping that I can maybe lower that time," he added.
"People have asked me if I will run on our 4x400 relay team, at the moment all I can say is that anything is possible but the focus for me is the 800. Having won the world championships I of course want to add that Olympic title."
After claiming the world title with an impressive display of front-running in South Korea last August, the 23-year-old will be a strong favourite to claim his first Olympic gold in London on Aug. 9.
Rudisha, who will run the 400 metres at the Sydney Track Classic on Feb. 18 and step up to the two-lap race in Melbourne on March 2-3, said he was looking forward to commencing his season Down Under, as he has for the last two years.
"The people are friendly, the meets are good and it works as a very good start to my year," he said in a news release.
"This year we of course have the Olympic Games and that is the big focus for all athletes but I want to run well throughout the year."
Rudisha, who set his 800m world record time of one minute 41.01 seconds in Italy in 2010, said running the 400m in Sydney could lead to a bid to run in the relay in London.
"My personal best in the 400m is still from when I ran in Sydney two years ago, so I'm hoping that I can maybe lower that time," he added.
"People have asked me if I will run on our 4x400 relay team, at the moment all I can say is that anything is possible but the focus for me is the 800. Having won the world championships I of course want to add that Olympic title."
Giants nearing full strength ahead of Super Bowl
Linebacker Jacquian Williams shed his walking boot on Tuesday and said he was hopeful of practicing Wednesday as the New York Giants looked likely to be at full strength for Sunday's Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.
Williams, who suffered the injury during the NFC title game where he forced a turnover in overtime that set up the winning score, said he was confident he would overcome the strained right foot that has sidelined him.
Other key Giants players, including running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (shoulder) and cornerback Corey Webster (hamstring) also said they were ready to go at full speed.
"It feels a lot better this week," said Nicks, who along with slot receiver Victor Cruz and wide receiver Mario Manningham, provides the Giants with big-play targets for quarterback Eli Manning. "It's not sore or anything.
The Giants followed the Patriots at Media Day to podiums erected on the sidelines at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the title game will be played.
But first, members of the team strolled onto the gridiron with cameras and video recorders to chronicle the spectacle of hundreds of reporters and a crowd of 7,300 spectators who paid $25 to sit in the stands and listen to player interviews.
Second-year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who was named to the All-Pro team after recording 16.5 sacks this season, typified the confidence of the New Yorkers, who beat the Patriots 17-14 four years ago in the Super Bowl.
"When all is said and done there is only one team that will walk away with the win and be world champions," said Pierre-Paul, the son of Haitian immigrants in Florida.
"It's going to be the team that's got the most heart and wants to play physical. I think we'll be that team."
Williams, who suffered the injury during the NFC title game where he forced a turnover in overtime that set up the winning score, said he was confident he would overcome the strained right foot that has sidelined him.
Other key Giants players, including running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (shoulder) and cornerback Corey Webster (hamstring) also said they were ready to go at full speed.
"It feels a lot better this week," said Nicks, who along with slot receiver Victor Cruz and wide receiver Mario Manningham, provides the Giants with big-play targets for quarterback Eli Manning. "It's not sore or anything.
The Giants followed the Patriots at Media Day to podiums erected on the sidelines at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the title game will be played.
But first, members of the team strolled onto the gridiron with cameras and video recorders to chronicle the spectacle of hundreds of reporters and a crowd of 7,300 spectators who paid $25 to sit in the stands and listen to player interviews.
Second-year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who was named to the All-Pro team after recording 16.5 sacks this season, typified the confidence of the New Yorkers, who beat the Patriots 17-14 four years ago in the Super Bowl.
"When all is said and done there is only one team that will walk away with the win and be world champions," said Pierre-Paul, the son of Haitian immigrants in Florida.
"It's going to be the team that's got the most heart and wants to play physical. I think we'll be that team."
Vegas bookmakers' cheering Patriots in Super Bowl
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady can count Las Vegas casinos among his supporters for this weekend's Super Bowl after most of the millions of dollars wagered on the game has been for a New York Giants victory.
The point-spread for the National Football League's (NFL) title game on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis has remained steady over the last week and the Nevada gambling community is backing the Giants, who were three-point underdogs, as of Tuesday.
MGM Resorts International, which operates 10 sports books on the Las Vegas Strip, said about 65 per cent of the money bet so far in its casinos was for the Giants.
"At this point we are still getting some dog money, they are betting the Giants, and I think that will be the trend going into the weekend," Jay Rood, vice president of the race and sports book at MGM, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"I am fairly certain that it's happening throughout the whole state (of Nevada) as well so I'm pretty sure the state is going to need a Patriots victory."
Head coach Bill Belichick's Patriots enter the Super Bowl on a 10-game winning streak dating back to the regular season and face a Giants team that stunned them in the title game four years ago.
Questions about the Patriots defence and the status of injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, one of Brady's key targets all season, have made the Giants appealing to bettors in what promises to be a close game.
"Being on Brady and Belichick's side is not a bad position," said Rood. "It's a fighting chance at least."
While the Giants were luring the bulk of bets early in the week, the casinos said nearly 80 percent of Super Bowl wagers were not made until the weekend.
Some of the sports books expected a sizeable portion of the remaining bets to be in support of the Patriots, which could potentially change which team the casinos want to win.
" If that comes in it's going to balance this thing out a little bit," said Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports book operations for the LVH SuperBook. "Or we might not see that, so in that case, yeah, most of the sports books are going to need the Patriots."
GAMBLING FRENZY
Every year, the NFL's championship game creates a gambling frenzy in Nevada that is considered by some to be a bellwether for the broader U.S. economy. The state handled $87.5 million in Super Bowl bets last year when Green Bay beat Pittsburgh.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, wagers on this year's Super Bowl were expected to surpass last year's but would be hard pressed to top the record $94.5 million set six years ago when Pittsburgh beat Seattle.
"More people are coming but they are spending less individually so we are seeing increases but the increases don't quite match that volume that we've seen," said Mike Lawton, senior research analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. "People's wallets just are not spending as much as they were."
Aside from traditional bets on which team will win or who will be chosen as the most valuable player, gamblers can also wager on a range of things, including whether Kelly Clarkson will forget or omit at least one word when she sings the U.S. National Anthem before kickoff.
Gamblers can also bet on what color sports drink will be dumped on the head coach of the winning team and whether Madonna will be wearing fishnet stockings at any point during her Super Bowl halftime show.
The point-spread for the National Football League's (NFL) title game on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis has remained steady over the last week and the Nevada gambling community is backing the Giants, who were three-point underdogs, as of Tuesday.
MGM Resorts International, which operates 10 sports books on the Las Vegas Strip, said about 65 per cent of the money bet so far in its casinos was for the Giants.
"At this point we are still getting some dog money, they are betting the Giants, and I think that will be the trend going into the weekend," Jay Rood, vice president of the race and sports book at MGM, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"I am fairly certain that it's happening throughout the whole state (of Nevada) as well so I'm pretty sure the state is going to need a Patriots victory."
Head coach Bill Belichick's Patriots enter the Super Bowl on a 10-game winning streak dating back to the regular season and face a Giants team that stunned them in the title game four years ago.
Questions about the Patriots defence and the status of injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, one of Brady's key targets all season, have made the Giants appealing to bettors in what promises to be a close game.
"Being on Brady and Belichick's side is not a bad position," said Rood. "It's a fighting chance at least."
While the Giants were luring the bulk of bets early in the week, the casinos said nearly 80 percent of Super Bowl wagers were not made until the weekend.
Some of the sports books expected a sizeable portion of the remaining bets to be in support of the Patriots, which could potentially change which team the casinos want to win.
" If that comes in it's going to balance this thing out a little bit," said Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports book operations for the LVH SuperBook. "Or we might not see that, so in that case, yeah, most of the sports books are going to need the Patriots."
GAMBLING FRENZY
Every year, the NFL's championship game creates a gambling frenzy in Nevada that is considered by some to be a bellwether for the broader U.S. economy. The state handled $87.5 million in Super Bowl bets last year when Green Bay beat Pittsburgh.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, wagers on this year's Super Bowl were expected to surpass last year's but would be hard pressed to top the record $94.5 million set six years ago when Pittsburgh beat Seattle.
"More people are coming but they are spending less individually so we are seeing increases but the increases don't quite match that volume that we've seen," said Mike Lawton, senior research analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. "People's wallets just are not spending as much as they were."
Aside from traditional bets on which team will win or who will be chosen as the most valuable player, gamblers can also wager on a range of things, including whether Kelly Clarkson will forget or omit at least one word when she sings the U.S. National Anthem before kickoff.
Gamblers can also bet on what color sports drink will be dumped on the head coach of the winning team and whether Madonna will be wearing fishnet stockings at any point during her Super Bowl halftime show.
Croatia striker Jelavic swaps Rangers for Everton
Everton signed Croatia international striker Nikica Jelavic from Scottish champions Rangers on a four-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee on Tuesday.
Media reports estimated the transfer fee to be around eight million pounds ($12.62 million).
Jelavic, 26, started his first-team career at Hajduk Split before having spells at Zulte Waregem in Belgium and Rapid Vienna before joining Rangers in 2010.
He scored 36 goals in 55 matches for the Ibrox side.
Jelavic becomes Everton's third signing in the January transfer window after the arrivals of Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson from Manchester United and American midfielder Landon Donovan on loan from LA Galaxy.
Media reports estimated the transfer fee to be around eight million pounds ($12.62 million).
Jelavic, 26, started his first-team career at Hajduk Split before having spells at Zulte Waregem in Belgium and Rapid Vienna before joining Rangers in 2010.
He scored 36 goals in 55 matches for the Ibrox side.
Jelavic becomes Everton's third signing in the January transfer window after the arrivals of Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson from Manchester United and American midfielder Landon Donovan on loan from LA Galaxy.
