Swimming: A 12-year-old swimmer from Myanmar was forced to swim alone in the heats of the men’s 100 metres breaststroke at the world championships before being roared home by an enthusiastic crowd at the Kazan Arena yesterday. Ahnt Khaung Htut found himself swimming the event on his own after his fellow competitors from Guinea and Cameroon pulled out of the opening heat. “I loved it in there and I am so proud of being here,” said Htut, who has ambitions to swim at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Htut is the second youngest swimming competitor at the championships behind 11-year-old compatriot Su Moe Theint San.
Rugby Union: World Rugby officials are still undecided about where the 2019 World Cup final will be after the Japanese government scuttled their proposal to stage the match in Tokyo’s new Olympic stadium. The final of the first Rugby World Cup in Asia was supposed to take place at the new national stadium but those plans were suddenly scrapped when Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the project be put on hold because of rising costs. A cheaper stadium will be ready in time for the Olympics but not the World Cup, forcing World Rugby officials to find another venue and change the draft match schedule.
Cricket: Worcestershire bowler Joe Leach claimed a hat-trick with the first three balls of his side’s Royal London One-Day Cup match against Northamptonshire yesterday. Leach had Richard Levi and Rob Keogh caught behind by Ben Cox with the opening two balls of the match before Ben Duckett was pouched by Jack Shantry to prompt scenes of mass shock and hysteria within the Worcestershire team. Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas also achieved the feat in a World Cup match against Bangladesh in 2003 and added a further scalp with the fifth ball of the match en route to a four-wicket opening over.
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Triathlon: Triathlete Gwen Jorgensen (picture) took her winning streak to an incredible 12 consecutive races when she won the ITU World Olympic Qualification Event in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. The 29-year old American pulled away from Briton Non Stanford on the final running section to win by 19 seconds in 1:58:46. Briton Vicky Holland was third in 1:59:27. With the first three finishers guaranteeing their nations a spot in Rio next year, the US and Britain can start making plan for South America’s first Olympics. Anne Haug’s seventh place also guaranteed Germany a place in the Games.
Olympic Sport: The sport of flying disc, commonly known as “frisbee”, was officially recognised as an Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday, opening the way for it to try and join the Games’ programme in the future. After meeting all the criteria to become an Olympic sport, including having 62 national federations and gender equality, the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) was given the nod at the 128th IOC Session session in the Malaysian capital. Meanwhile, South Sudan became the 206th member of the Olympic family after the IOC approved its inclusion, despite ongoing fighting in the African country. The country is now free to compete at next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics under its own flag and plans to send a team of four.