Olympic Games: Madrid’s new mayor has said the city’s bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics is viable despite its high debt, since most of the necessary investment has already been made. “Among our aims, Madrid’s effort to be an Olympic city has an important place,” the mayor, Ana Botella, said this week. Madrid and five other candidate cities are due to submit their 2020 Games plans by February 25 to the committee, which will vote on the host city in September 2013. The other contenders are Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Rome and Tokyo.
Golf: Japanese golf legend Teruo Sugihara died yesterday after a long battle with cancer in a career that spanned more than a half century and earned him the nickname “Don” of Japan’s pro tour. Sugihara, who was 74, was also known as the “Viper” for his tenacity despite standing at just 160 centimetres (5.2 feet). He won 63 tournaments including the 1969 Hong Kong Open, his only overseas victory.
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Darts: Darts great Phil Taylor (picture) responded to his shock second round defeat at this year’s World Championship by saying he’d retire in “two or three years”. Taylor, 13 times a world champion and twice winner of the British Darts Organisation version prior to the creation of the breakaway title in 1994, was beaten four sets to one by fellow English-man Dave Chisnall at London’s Alexandra Palace. Nicknamed ‘The Power’, Taylor had no complaints about the result but the 51-year-old said he had only a few more years of top-flight darts left in him.
Cycling: Australia’s Tour de France champion Cadel Evans and his Italian wife are adopting a one-year-old Ethiopian boy. Evans had hinted at a child, telling his Twitter followers on Tuesday he was “busy baby sitting”. His wife, Chiara Passerini, who had posted an image via Twitter of her holding a small child’s hand with the message “We had the most special Christmas of our lives”, confirmed the couple had travelled to Ethiopia to adopt a child. The couple hope to bring the infant back to their home in Switzerland within weeks.
Tennis: James Blake looks set to miss the Australian Open after tournament director Craig Tiley posted the news on Twitter. It is not yet clear whether the US player, currently ranked 59th in the world, is injured. Blake opted out of last year’s tournament as he battled for form and fitness. Tiley wrote on the social networking site: “Just got word that James Blake has withdrawn from the AO and Brisbane. Sorry to hear this and we wish James all the best.”