Triathlon: German Jan Frodeno iced his competitors to clinch his first triathlon Ironman World Championship with a dominating performance in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii yesterday. The 2008 Olympic gold medallist at the shorter distance came out the water in second place and broke away on the bike leg to set up his victory. He was never challenged in the marathon run and clinched the most coveted title in the sport, while Swiss Daniela Ryf won the women’s title by a huge margin of more than 13 minutes. Frodeno finished the 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle and 42.2 km run in eight hours, 14 minutes and 40 seconds.
Motor Racing: McLaren’s Belgian development driver Stoffel Vandoorne won the GP2 championship yesterday, hoping it will prove ultimately to be a springboard to Formula One even if few seats are immediately available. Vandoorne finished fourth in a sprint race in Sochi to take the title with two rounds remaining. American Alexander Rossi, who has also raced for Manor Marussia in Formula One this season, had been his only title rival. Vandoorne now has 277.5 points to Rossi’s 169.5.
Basketball: Jeremy Lin scored 16 points off the bench to help Charlotte Hornets prevail 106-94 over Los Angeles Clippers in the first of two pre-season games in China yesterday. The first NBA player of Taiwanese descent, Lin was egged on by the sellout crowd in Shenzhen as the 27-year-old orchestrated the Hornets’ attack in his first NBA appearance in China. The two teams will meet again in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Rugby Union: Wales back Liam Williams has been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup after sustaining a foot injury in the 15-6 Pool A defeat by Australia on Saturday, the Welsh Rugby Union said yesterday. Wales coach Warren Gatland feared Williams had suffered a recurrence of the same metatarsal injury he suffered in June which he underwent surgery for and had made him a doubt for the tournament. Williams played in the opening match against Uruguay but sustained a concussion against England and missed their third match with Fiji. Wales have been dogged by a succession of injuries but finished runners-up in Pool A and will face South Africa in the quarter-finals next Saturday.
Golf: Captain’s pick Bill Haas claimed the crucial final point at the Presidents Cup yesterday, as the United States beat the Internationals 15.5 to 14.5 to clinch the team golf event for the ninth time in 11 editions. Haas, who is also the son of US captain Jay Haas, held his nerve in the last of the 12 singles matches to beat South Korea favourite Bae Sang-moon on a day of missed putts, momentum swings and hand-wringing tension. After five straight comfortable US wins, the one-point margin of victory was the narrowest since the Americans won 16.5 to 15.5 in 1996.