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6049. wabbit - 7/5/2008 9:41:23 PM  Venus Williams defeated Serena 7-5, 6-4 Saturday for her fifth Wimbledon title and second in a row. Venus avenged two previous losses to her younger sibling in the final at the All England Club and reasserted her dominance on her favorite court and favorite grass surface.
"I can't believe that it's five," said Venus, who now also has seven Grand Slam championships. "But when you're in the final against Serena Williams, five seems too far away."
Venus came from 3-1 down in the first set to turn around the match, breaking Serena four times while dropping serve twice in a final that produced breathtaking tennis despite swirling wind.
This was more than a matchup between siblings; it was a contest between two of the hardest-hitting, most athletic players in the world at the top of their game.
Venus broke to finish the match in 1 hour, 51 minutes, with Serena hitting a backhand wide on the second match point. The sisters embraced at the net, and Venus kept her celebrations in check as she twirled and waved to the Centre Court crowd...
6050. wabbit - 7/5/2008 9:43:58 PM  Dara Torres' eyes were watery and not from just having climbed out of the pool. She was crying at the cheers from 13,247 fans who saw the 41-year-old mother complete her improbable Olympic comeback. Torres made the U.S. Olympic swimming team for a record fifth time Friday night, winning the 100-meter freestyle over Natalie Coughlin at the trials. A thrilling performance that prompted the crowd to applaud Torres as the new face of middle-aged, weekend warriors everywhere. Toned and tanned, with a flat stomach, she hardly looks like she's been away since the 2000 Sydney Games, her last Olympic appearance...
Tyson Homosexual tumbled to the ground at the start of his 200-meter quarterfinal heat at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials Saturday and had to be carted off the track. Running in the seventh lane, Gay was speeding to the lead in the first turn, but on his 14th stride, something went wrong. He went airborne, fell, then laid on the ground in pain, grabbing his left thigh and grimacing. Gay already had qualified for the Olympics in the 100 meters, but his availability for the games now will be determined by the severity of his injury. Though he's the defending world champion in the 200, trials rules call for the top three finishers to make the Olympic team -- no exceptions...
Christian Smith originally was listed as the 31st qualifier in an event that only had room for 30... The drama ended in a melee at the finish: Smith getting hooked by favorite Khadevis Robinson in the final 10 meters, then Smith vaulting himself into mid-air as he approaches the line, sprawled out to defeat Robinson, who had won the national title four times before this year. Diving at the finish line is not part of anybody's training program. He and Robinson were both laying on the track at the end, while winner Nick Symmonds and second-place finisher Andrew Wheating were starting their celebration...US Olympics Team
6051. jexster - 7/6/2008 3:45:22 PM Rafa's playing
Rafa has a nice butt
 6052. jexster - 7/6/2008 3:47:04 PM Good catch Wabbit!!!! 6053. jexster - 7/6/2008 4:02:45 PM 6-4
6-4
 6054. jexster - 7/6/2008 4:09:53 PM Damn concentrating too much on the butt. May have jinxed the boy
He's got a serious, permanent butt wedgie 6055. iiibbb - 7/6/2008 5:16:07 PM LeTour has begun. 6056. jexster - 7/6/2008 10:16:57 PM zzzzzzzz
You probably like soccer too!
 6057. jexster - 7/6/2008 10:45:41 PM 
6058. wabbit - 7/6/2008 11:09:21 PM  Rafael Nadal ended Roger Federer's five-year reign at Wimbledon on Sunday, winning a riveting, five-set marathon to claim his first title at the All England Club and signal a changing of the guard in men's tennis. Nadal held off a stirring comeback by Federer from two sets down to prevail 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7. He became the first man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980. Nadal, the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in 1966, avenged his losses to Federer in the last two finals here and snapped the Swiss star's All England Club winning streak at 40 matches and overall grass-court run at 65. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play -- the longest men's final in Wimbledon history -- when Federer slapped a forehand into the net on Nadal's fourth match point and second of the game.
Somebody had to lose the ladies’ singles final, but there was to be consolation for Serena Williams in the doubles, as she and elder sister Venus captured a third Wimbledon crown – their seventh Grand Slam title – by defeating Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-2. Raymond and Stosur are both former doubles number ones: As a pair, they won the US Open in 2005 and Roland Garros in 2006, and in the first half of 2007 they collected five titles on the tour. But when Stosur fell ill and missed most of the second half of the season, their prospects suffered. Still, the pair have enjoyed a vintage week, first defeating third seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in the last 16, then breezing past unseeded Ekaterina Makarova and Selima Sfar in the quarters. In their semi final they made top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber look ordinary. But today, with their powerful and well-grooved returns, the 11th-seeded Williams pairing made life hard for the resolute serve-and-volleyers from the get-go. Indeed, while Raymond and Stosur, the No.16 seeds, play a classical doubles game – at the net – they were often forced to play from the baseline far more than they must have have liked...
Wimbledon
6059. wabbit - 7/6/2008 11:10:07 PM 
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde won the opening stage in a final sprint Saturday as cycling's three-week showcase took a first step in trying to get beyond the doping scandals that for years have battered the race and the entire sport. "I've achieved two of my objectives: to win a stage and to wear the yellow jersey," Valverde said. "That's done today. ... It gives me peace of mind for the rest of the race." Valverde, fresh off winning last month's Dauphine Libere and the Spanish championship, broke away from the pack at the end of the 123-mile leg from Brest to Plumelec. On a windy day marked by four crashes, Valverde was followed by Philippe Gilbert of Belgium and Jerome Pineau of France. The top U.S. rider was Christian Vandevelde in 18th place...
Le Tour de France news
6060. alistairconnor - 7/7/2008 3:10:32 PM Tyson Gay. A tough name to carry for a sportsman.
Imagine the guys on either side of him, eyeing him before the starting gun.
Wondering if he's going to bite their ears off. 6061. alistairconnor - 7/7/2008 3:35:29 PM Good sign for the Tour : (I know, I've been saying for the last few years that this time, it's going to be clean. But this time...)
Greg Lemond is back visiting the tour, after five years of absence... He's quoted in yesterday's papers, saying that he was approached to put together a team in 2001, and they asked him if it was possible to win the Tour without doping. He said no... But he says that now things are different, he's "99% optimist".
Greg fancies the Australian, Cadel Evans. As good a guess as any. Valverde is also looking good. 6062. alistairconnor - 7/7/2008 3:41:42 PM Third stage today, across Brittany from Saint Brieuc to Nantes. About an hour from the finish. A group of four out in front, but they will get chewed up in the last few kilometres. 6063. alistairconnor - 7/7/2008 4:34:46 PM Hey hey they're going all the way...
If they make it, a French boy will get the yellow... Romain Feuillu 6064. jexster - 7/7/2008 10:23:19 PM Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played
It was exhausting just to watch 6065. alistairconnor - 7/8/2008 4:22:34 PM  Oh oh it looks like little Romain Feuillu has had his day in the sun (and wind and rain...)
He's doing the time trial now, and he's well off the pace. He's got 1 min 48 seconds on the serious contenders but he will lose all of that and more... Serious contenders for the yellow today are Englishman David Millar, and Luxemburger Kim Kirchen.
6066. alistairconnor - 7/8/2008 4:25:18 PM Valverde is off the pace too. I suspect he's having a rest day. Saving it for the mountains. Let someone else make the running. 6067. alistairconnor - 7/8/2008 4:32:32 PM Ah no. Millar and Kirchen are in the same second. But Schumacher beat them both by 18. He'll be in yellow tomorrow, unless I'm missing something. 6068. David Ehrenstein - 7/8/2008 7:22:04 PM 
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