Skiing: Ski officials were disappointed that the International Ski Federation did not allow American Lindsey Vonn to race against men at a World Cup event. Vonn wanted to compete against men at Lake Louise, Canada, on November 24. She was only offered the chance to serve as a forerunner before the competition begins. “I’m disappointed to hear that Lindsey Vonn will not be racing against the men in Lake Louise,” Alpine Canada president Max Gartner said. “I saw it as a great opportunity to raise the profile of the sport by attracting interest from people who do not normally follow ski racing.”
Basket, NBA: Brook Lopez scored 27 points and Deron Williams added 19 to spark Brooklyn Nets to a 107-100 victory over Toronto Raptors in a triumphant debut at their new $1 billion home arena. The Nets saw their originally scheduled opener against uptown rivals New York Knicks postponed from Thursday to November 26 because of damage suffered around the city as a result of killer storm Hurricane Sandy. Pushing that game back meant that the Nets, who moved from New Jersey after last season, had to wait until the Raptors visited on Saturday to make their debut at the Barclays Center but made it worth the wait for Brooklyn fans.
Athletics: Milt Campbell, the first black athlete to win the Olympic decathlon, died of prostate cancer aged 78 at his home northwest of Atlanta. Linda Rusch, who had spent the past 13 years with Campbell, announced his passing on Saturday. Campbell was a high school senior when he took a silver medal in the decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, losing out to fellow American Bob Mathias. Campbell won Olympic decathlon gold in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics and later played professional American football. He remains the only athlete to have been enshrined in the US Track and Field Hall of Fame and US Swimming Hall of Fame.
Horse Racing: Fort Larned stole the show with a brave victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, out-duelling Mucho Macho Man and leaving favourite Game On Dude in the dust. Game On Dude, unbeaten in five prior starts on California’s dirt track at Santa Anita, was the overwhelming favourite to give trainer Bob Baffert a first victory in the $5 million Classic – the richest race in North America. Instead, he trailed in seventh, piling on the misery for Baffert, who had 10 runners over two days of Breeders’ Cup racing and departed without a winner.
Golf: Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter snatched a brilliant victory in the $7 million WGC-HSBC Champions yesterday when he shot seven-under-par 65 to settle a thrilling day’s action at China’s Mission Hills. The Englishman started the last round four off the pace but he crafted eight birdies against a lone bogey before sealing a nerve-jangling, two-shot win with a steely par putt on the last hole. Poulter fired rounds of 69, 68, 65 and 65 for a total score of 21-under-par 267, with Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jason Dufner and Scott Piercy sharing second place on a congested leaderboard. Poulter claimed the 1.2 million dollar cheque for the winning player.
Boxing: Germany’s world champion Marco Huck has defended his WBO cruiserweight title for the 10th time with a unanimous points victory over challenger Firat Arslan to earn the status of super champion. The 27-year-old Huck celebrated the 35th victory of his career and the World Boxing Organisation has elevated his title to super status after his victory at Halle, Westfalen against 42-year-old ex-WBA champion Arslan. This was the sixth defeat of Arslan’s career and possibly the German’s last chance at a world title.
Sports Body: North Korea’s ruling communist party announced a new sports body headed by the uncle of leader Kim Jong-Un. Jang Song-Thaek was named head of the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, which will “control the overall sports work of the country in a unified manner”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Jang, the husband of late leader Kim Jong-Il’s sister Kim Kyong-Hui, is seen as a key figure in the North’s power elite.