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All roads lead to World Championships as Laura Muir heads a star-studded 1500m London line-up and Britain’s 4x100m champions get set to fine-tune their preparations
The world championships summer is hotting up and this year’s Müller Anniversary Games, in the London Stadium on July 20-21, will have a significant part to play in the preparations of a number of Britain’s top athletes.
For example, the country’s biggest endurance star, Laura Muir, will continue her Doha build-up when she goes head to head with some of the world‘s very best distance runners over 1500m in the UK capital.
The European 1500m champion and double-double European indoor champion over 1500m and 3000m will line up against a field that includes Olympic and world 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon, European 1500m silver medallist Sofia Ennaoui, 2016 world indoor 1500m silver medallist Dawit Seyaum, 2016 world indoor 1500m bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay, European indoor 1500m bronze medallist Ciara Mageean and European indoor 3000m silver medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen.
The British duo of Sarah McDonald, who set a big PB for 800m at the Watford BMC Grand Prix, and Jemma Reekie complete the line-up at the event which takes place 10 weeks before the starting gun is fired on the action in Qatar.
Muir has had a superb start to her outdoor season following a fantastic indoor campaign which saw her retain both her 1500m and 3000m European indoor titles on home turf in Glasgow.
The Scottish athlete won the 1500m at the Diamond League event in Stockholm in May, then clocked a season’s best 3:56.73 in Rome a few weeks ago – her second-quickest time ever – as she finished fractionally behind Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia. She was also second in Stanford behind Kipyegon.
“This year is a huge one for me and the race at the Müller Anniversary Games is going to be a key test ahead of the world championships at the end of the summer,” she said. “It’s a really strong field so I’m anticipating a big test with a view to producing a really strong performance.
“Winning the European outdoor title last summer and defending my European indoor titles earlier this year has given me more confidence and I’m really excited about this season. The Müller Anniversary Games is 10 weeks before Doha so the countdown clock will really start ticking there and I can’t wait to get out and race.”
Relay teams get ready to go
The Müller Anniversary Games will also host some of the biggest 4x100m relay races in the world this year.
On the men’s side, two Great Britain & Northern Ireland 4x100m quartets will line up against Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Japan, Netherlands and Poland for an exciting showdown which is sure to set the London Stadium alight.
Great Britain’s men’s sprint relay teams have returned to top form with some exceptional performances in recent years.
In 2017 they produced an unforgettable display to win gold at the IAAF World Championships in London, and they have also won the 4x100m at the last three European Championships.
Britain’s women’s 4x100m relay athletes will also be lining up against some of the world’s best opposition at the event.
There will be two British teams taking on Germany, China, Denmark, Australia, Poland and Brazil. Competition will be strong again to secure selection for the Great Britain sprint side, which will be hoping to continue the form which saw Asha Philip, Imani Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Dina Asher-Smith race to victory at the European Championships in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium last year.
A string of great performances in recent years, which include a 4x100m silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in London in 2017 and Olympic bronze in Rio the year before, have established this latest generation of British female sprinters as a relay team to beat on the global stage.
Tickets for British Athletics’ 2019 outdoor season are on general sale via theticketfactory.com/british-athletics
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CHICAGO - U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter has said that Sunday -- which will see the U.S. contest the Women's World Cup final against Netherlands while the men face Mexico in the Gold Cup final -- should be looked upon as "Soccer Day in America."
The day will also feature the Copa America final between Brazil and Peru (stream it at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+). But there have been complaints that the Women's World Cup final should have a day to call its own. Berhalter says he sees it differently.
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"This is an opportunity to be Soccer Day in America," he said. "When you think about the opportunity for the women to win the World Cup in the morning, then I think you get to party for half the afternoon. Then you get to take a little nap, and then get up, you go to the game and you enjoy the final of Gold Cup."
As for the Gold Cup itself, Berhalter believes Mexico remain the favorite, though he remains confident about his side's chances.
"When you're going into a one-off game, anything can happen," he said. "We believe in our team. We think we have a good team. Likewise, I think Mexico is a good team. I think it's going to be a good game for both teams. It's going to be a difficult game for both teams. We know how they can hurt us. We've identified how we can hurt them. Now it's just about going out and doing it."
Mexico comes into the match having played two extra time games in a row, though they will have a day more of rest heading into Sunday's final. Berhalter said he doesn't think those issues will be a factor, and that the U.S. had its difficulties to overcome as well.
"Think about all the work we did against Curacao, remember? Chasing the ball for 45 minutes, so we did our work also," he said. "We played in heat; Mexico played in air conditioning. Listen, when it comes to a final, all that stuff just doesn't matter. Take all those components, whatever you want to say; long tournament, tired, short rest, this, that, weather delay, two days' rest. All of that doesn't matter because all you want to do is get to the next game and when you get to the last game you want to win it."
With the exception of the 1-0 win over Curacao in the quarterfinals, the U.S. team has been consistent throughout the tournament. Berhalter said the team's chemistry is what has pushed the team forward over the last month.
"I like the camaraderie within the group. It's a strong group," he said. "I think they've been really focused on working together, really motivated. Overall, we've been together for a while but it's been an absolute pleasure to work with the group."
Berhalter also praised the team's leadership, which has come from a variety of players.
"I think what we're doing is we're tapping into different forms of leadership, and everybody is," he said. "So there's times when younger guys step up. But the veterans, they've been leading by example. They've been leading verbally. The whole idea of this tournament was to pick the right group of players, and have enough leaders in the group that can propel the group forward."
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Egypt hopes Mo Salah can deliver AFCON though his hometown, Nagrig, is cheering just a little louder
Published in
Soccer
Friday, 28 June 2019 15:59
NAGRIG, Egypt -- Mrs. Amene sits on a step outside the youth centre in Nagrig. Looking over the dusty football field out front, she remembers one particular player who played there two decades ago.
"Of course I saw him play here," she says. "He was a respectable child. No matter what, I can say nothing bad about Mohamed Salah."
These days the youth centre bears Salah's name and on the side facing the pitch, there's a near-lifelike mural displaying his face and red-tracksuit-wearing upper body. Fewer than 9,000 people live in Nagrig and the journey deep into the Nile delta from Cairo, 80 miles to the south and three hours' drive in a sturdy car, is not for the faint-hearted. Yet those who attempt the trip nowadays are mounting something that feels like a pilgrimage: Nagrig is where one of the world's best footballers made his first steps and, in a country where his cult permeates every section of society, this is essentially a sacred site.
You wouldn't know it when navigating the roads, which dart between paddy fields and livestock farms while becoming steadily more treacherous while leading to this remote part of northern Egypt. People rely on agriculture to make a living here and it feels a world apart from the relentless tumult of the capital. In these parts, people must make do with simplicity. Yet Nagrig has benefited in extraordinary ways since the boy who sped up and down the rocks and gravel on that playing surface, taking the cuts and the bruises and getting up for more, took flight on his soccer journey.
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On a Sunday afternoon in late June, Nagrig's streets are almost deserted. There is only one main thoroughfare, really; a few cafes are open to anyone who might stop, but this is nowhere anyone would end up by accident. A handful of teenagers kick a ball around and there is one easy way to break any language barrier. "Mohamed Salah!" is the best currency for any foreigner and instantly kick-starts an impromptu tour through some of the means by which he has transformed this small community.
In what passes for a square outside the town's modest medical centre, preparations are being made for a wedding. Inside are two kidney dialysis machines paid for by Salah, along with a range of other supplies he helped fund. Nearby is the site of a girls' school whose construction he has funded; a religious institute built in 2017 also owes its existence to his funds. He runs a charity, the Mohamed Salah Charity Foundation, set up with the intention of funnelling a healthy proportion of his fortune back to the place that made him.
Just around the corner, a bulky, four-story house sits empty halfway along a quiet residential street. During his youth, this was the Salah family's home base.
"He was my neighbour and his house was next to mine; I know him well," says Mrs. Amene, who works in the youth centre and watches Nagrig's next generation, many of them wearing Liverpool shirts, go through their paces. About 20 of them have gradually gathered on the pitch, more through curiosity about their new visitors than any real intention to stage a match, but Mrs. Amene has them under control: The smallest hint of what might be perceived as insolence is met with a click of the fingers and an instant straightening-up. Discipline is a cornerstone of society here and they have the perfect role model for it.
Anyone attempting the return journey to Cairo can only regard Salah's old routine with awe. The tale is well-told by now: He used to leave school at 9 a.m., after two hours' study, and then take up to five local buses so that he could train with El Mokawloon (also known as Arab Contractors), a team he joined early in his teens. It's a trip that would exhaust anyone just once, a route that runs the gantlet of Basyoun municipality's uneven tracks before the gantlet of Cairo's overwhelming traffic. Salah would do it five days a week and an anecdote told by one of his former coaches speaks of the fear that such a sapping amount of sacrifice might not pay off.
Said El Shishiny coached Salah at Under-16 and Under-17 levels, initially finding it hard to accommodate a player who was, at one stage, effectively a fifth-choice left-back.
"Many coaches will say they are the one who made him famous, but I am the one because I changed his position," El Shishiny tells ESPN FC.
"He was not one of the main players in the team so I transferred him to the right wing, because of his speed. Soon after that, we had a match against ENPPI and won 4-0. Salah had three chances to score but didn't take any of them. After the match I went to the dressing room and found him crying. I asked: 'Why are you crying?' He said: 'Because I didn't score any goals today.' I told him he would be the team's top scorer the following season and he scored 30 times in total."
Salah would never look back except to frequently turn his head toward Nagrig, where he remains a regular visitor. There is no five-star hotel here, no gated community and no exclusive suburb for the rich. He simply returns for Ramadan annually and goes home, although he complained of "disrespect" earlier this summer when a mass of local journalists and fans made it impossible for him to travel to the local mosque for Eid al-Fitr, the fast-breaking festival that signals the end of the holy month.
In a town of this size, everyone professes some kind of Salah connection. As I prepare to leave Nagrig a tall, chiselled older man extends an invitation into his home for tea. It turns out he is an uncle of Salah's by marriage, named Mustafa. "Mohammed is very kind to us here," he says. Some superstars leave their hometowns behind when the bright lights flicker into view but Salah has, in his own way, brought Nagrig along for the ride.
It means there is hope for the children, kicking up dirt under Mrs. Amene's watchful eye, of a successful and healthy life even if they do not enjoy the mind-boggling sporting success of their predecessor here.
Last Wednesday night they watched on their televisions as Salah, to a spine-tingling reaction inside a stadium that is in thrall of his every move, got his Africa Cup of Nations up and running with a superb finish against Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hours later, Salah courted controversy by publicly calling for Amr Warda, the Egypt midfielder who had been suspended from the squad for alleged sexual harassment, to be given a second chance. He got his way, and football fans were split down the middle.
With two Salah goals so far and a last-16 match against South Africa to come on Saturday, Egypt is more than capable of a deep run in this tournament. Salah holds an entire country in the palm of his hand to an extent without parallel in modern football; for Nagrig's residents, though, there is an extra sense that his success is also theirs.
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D. Green says he's joining Lakers on 2-year deal
Published in
Basketball
Saturday, 06 July 2019 00:34
Free-agent guard Danny Green will be signing a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, he announced on his Instagram account late Friday night.
The deal is worth $30 million, a league source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Lakers also agreed to re-sign shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a two-year, $16 million deal and center JaVale McGee to a two-year, $8.2 million deal with a player option, sources told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
Green was included in last summer's Kawhi Leonard trade to the Toronto Raptors as salary filler, after playing through a groin injury in 2017-18 and seeing his production dip as a result.
He bounced back in a big way this past season for Toronto, shooting a career-high 45.5 percent from 3-point range and averaging 10.3 points per game. It marked the third time in his career he hit double figures in scoring for a season.
Green's playoff experience playing alongside Leonard with the San Antonio Spurs was also invaluable for the Raptors as they journeyed through the postseason this spring en route to delivering Toronto its first NBA title.
Green, who turned 32 on June 22, will be heading into his 11th NBA season and entered the summer as one of the most coveted 3-and-D wings on the market.
Caldwell-Pope, 26, was an unrestricted free agent coming off a one-year, $12 million contract with the Lakers.
His usage took a hit this past season in Los Angeles, as he started just 23 of 82 games and averaged 24.8 minutes, nearly 10 fewer than his average in the 2017-18 campaign with the Lakers. The lesser role led to lesser numbers -- Caldwell-Pope averaged just 11.4 points per game, his lowest total since his rookie season.
McGee, 31, came to the Lakers last offseason after winning two NBA titles in two seasons with the Golden State Warriors. He signed a one-year, $2.4 million deal and averaged a career-best 12.0 points per game this past season. His 1.97 blocks per game ranked fifth in the league, and his .624 field goal percentage ranked third.
Information from ESPN's Tim Bontemps was used in this report.
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NBA world stunned by Kawhi Leonard-Paul George team-up
Published in
Basketball
Saturday, 06 July 2019 00:05
No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson made his NBA summer league debut, then left after hurting his knee, then the entire game was postponed by an earthquake -- and somehow that wasn't the biggest story in the NBA on Friday night.
The double dose of breaking news came late into the night, with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that Kawhi Leonard had agreed to sign with the LA Clippers. As if that wasn't big enough news, just a minute later came the additional report that Paul George will be teaming up with Leonard in Los Angeles after asking for and receiving a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Not surprisingly, NBA players were stunned by the news.
Free agent forward Kawhi Leonard has informed runners-up teams of his plans: He's signing with the Clippers, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Oklahoma City is trading All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-setting collection of draft choices, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
That wasn't an earthquake it was Woj pic.twitter.com/6AdNOVMoYR
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 6, 2019
New adventure in OKC...
— danilo gallinari (@gallinari8888) July 6, 2019
Thanks for everything LAC.
Congrats my brother KL! Announcing on my podcast where I'm going shortly!
— Danny Green (@DGreen_14) July 6, 2019
BREAKING: pic.twitter.com/oIPUwiFLmI
— Inside The Green Room (@GreenRoomInside) July 6, 2019
Don't talk to me
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) July 6, 2019
???
— Ivica Zubac (@ivicazubac) July 6, 2019
Interesting! ??
— Andre Roberson (@FlyDre21) July 6, 2019
Now that's what I'm talking about!!!The NBA man!!!!!
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 6, 2019
What in the world just happened????
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 6, 2019
That LAL vs. LAC rivalry gonna be ???
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 6, 2019
What it do babyyyyyy
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) July 6, 2019
This League is different man.... always something happening!!!
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) July 6, 2019
Well that Kawhi Clippers situation escalated quickly with PG coming sheesh..... #KawhiWatch2019
— Thad Young (@yungsmoove21) July 6, 2019
?
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) July 6, 2019
I love the nba! You can't even make this up! Every game in the regular season is going to be a playoff game!
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) July 6, 2019
PG and Kawhi to the Clippers OMG?
— Kev (@KevKnox) July 6, 2019
Wait whatttttt. This night just got even more crazy (wasn't sure that was possible) PG and Kawhi to the Clips!? Wow.
— Meyers Leonard (@MeyersLeonard11) July 6, 2019
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The LA Clippers are making a blockbuster trade for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George, clearing the path for free agent Kawhi Leonard to sign with the Clippers on a four-year, $142 million contract, league sources told ESPN.
In an 11th-hour move to keep Leonard from partnering with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers are trading four future unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick and two pick swaps to the Thunder to get George, league sources told ESPN.
The Clippers are sending Oklahoma City their unprotected 2022, 2024 and 2026 picks, their unprotected 2021 and protected 2023 first-round picks via Miami, and the rights to swap picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025, league sources said.
The Clippers also are sending point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari to the Thunder in the deal, league sources told ESPN.
George and Leonard wanted to play together, and George and his agent, Aaron Mintz, approached Thunder general manager Sam Presti in recent days and requested a trade, league sources said. Leonard wanted to walk into a championship contender, and he believed George was the co-star he wanted by his side.
With Friday night's additions, Staples Center appears set to be the most starry arena in the NBA: Leonard and George vs. James and Davis.
Leonard had held meetings with three teams he planned to sit down with in free agency, according to sources. He met with the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors over the past week, with Toronto receiving the final meeting, league sources said.
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LAKE CITY, Mich. – David Mielke put together a perfect performance to win Friday’s American Ethanol Modified Tour main event at Merritt Speedway.
Mielke’s run to perfection began on Thursday night, when the team unloaded for what was supposed to be night one of the doubleheader weekends. Mielke laid down the fastest time of time trials, but Mother Nature moved in before heat races could be completed.
Speedway and series officials opted to scrap the events from Thursday’s schedule for Friday’s races, meaning teams would compete in a pair of qualifying races to set the inside and outside rows.
Collin Thirlby won the first qualifier while Mielke won the second qualifier, making them the front row for the 25-lap main event.
Mielke jumped out into the early lead in the feature over Thirlby and Will Krup. One caution flag slowed the field when Caleb Kill came to a stop on the top of turn four.
The restart and lapped traffic were no match for Mielke, who led every lap and went to victory lane to collect the $2,500 check.
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MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Speedweek Mitch Smith Memorial was halted due to rain on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
Time trials were completed for the 30-car field, with Lance Dewease setting quick time with a lap of 17.307 seconds.
Danny Dietrich, James McFadden, Chad Trout and Lucas Wolfe were the top five qualifying before the rain stopped the rest of the event.
Pennsylvania Speedweek comes to a close Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Team owner Matt Kaulig entered three cars in Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona Int’l Speedway with a simple goal – bring home a trophy.
His trio of drivers – Ross Chastain, Justin Haley and A.J. Allmendinger – did that and much more.
The Kaulig Racing trio dominated the 100-lap event, with Chastain leading a Kaulig Racing sweep of the top three positions at the checkered flag just past midnight on Saturday morning.
“We’ve been trophy hunting. That’s all we’ve been saying all week,” Kaulig said. “I can’t believe we got all three of them right up front. I’m super excited for all these Kaulig Racing guys.”
All three Kaulig Racing drivers led laps during the Circle K Firecracker 250, but it was Chastain who had the dominant car when it counted most.
A restart with 21 laps left saw Chastain holding the lead. He briefly gave up the top spot to Justin Allgaier, but quickly regained the lead one lap later with 20 laps left as Haley followed in his tire tracks.
Chastain was still the lead with 15 laps left when Tyler Reddick, who had rebounded from a crash earlier in the evening, reappeared at the front of the field and took the lead with 14 laps left.
Coming down the backstretch Haley began to battle Reddick for the race lead when Michael Annett got turned into the outside wall while running directly behind Reddick. That triggered the dreaded big one, which collected at least a dozen cars and required a lengthy red flag period for cleanup.
When the crash was cleaned up Haley was the race leader, with Reddick, Chastain, Christopher Bell and Allgaier next in line. Allmendinger had barely made it through the crash and had to pit for new tires, putting him at the back of the lead lap cars for the restart with 10 laps left.
When the race resumed Haley got a big push from Chastain on the inside to take the race lead, but Reddick wasn’t going to stand by and watch. A big run down the backstretch allowed Reddick to regain the lead.
For the next two laps Reddick did everything he could to make his Chevrolet as wide as possible, but Chastain soon came knocking with a big push from Haley with eight laps left. Coming out of turn four on the outside Chastain emerged with the lead as Haley continued to push in second.
With five laps left Shane Lee got spun out of the lead pack, but he didn’t hit anything and kept going. That broke up the front of the field, with Chastain now leading a small breakaway with Haley, Bell and Austin Cindric.
Behind that group Allmendinger was charging. With three laps left he dispatched Brandon Brown to take fifth and he quickly closed on the bumper of Cindric for fourth, dispatching him on the white flag lap in turns one and two.
At the front there was no stopping Chastain, who held the lead through the final corners with his teammate Haley in his rear view mirror to earn his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and first of the season.
“I watched these races every Fourth of July. I never could come in the spring because we were growing watermelons,” Chastain said. “These guys right here gave me a race car at Daytona. We did it!”
Allmendinger was able to sneak past Bell coming out of turn four on the final lap to steal third, giving Kaulig Racing a one-two-three finish. Prior to Saturday’s race, Kaulig Racing had never finished better than fourth in Xfinity Series competition.
“I was just trying to be a good teammate,” Haley said of the finish. “I kind of gave it up to get Kaulig Racing one.”
“I’m so pumped to be a part of Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said. “Of course you want to be the driver that tries to get the win, but there is nothing cooler than being a one-two-three.”
Bell ended up settling for fourth, with Cindric completing the top-five. The rest of the top-10 included Stephen Leicht, Brown, Jeff Green, Gray Gaulding and Jeremy Clements.
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