Vendee Globe Race: Frenchman Francois Gabart was holding on to his lead in the solo, round-the world Vendee Globe yacht race yesterday, with the fleet chasing around the seas south of Australia heading into the southern Pacific Ocean. Gabart was around 40 nautical miles clear of countryman Armel Le Cleac’h, with another Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Dick, in third nearly 500 nautical miles adrift. In all 13 boats remain in the hunt for sailing’s toughest test 36 days after the race, which is held every four years, set off from the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne. They are due to arrive back in about two months time.
Golf: Spain’s Sergio Garcia ended with a spectacular 11-under-par 61 to win the weather-shortened $2 million Iskandar Johor Open yesterday. Thunderstorms reduced the tournament to a 54-hole contest but Garcia showed he was still in control, securing his 24th professional victory with a winning total of 18-under-par 198. American Jonathan Moore closed with a 61 to secure his second runner-up finish this season. Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee signed for his week’s best score of 65 to take third place.
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Athletics: Kenyan runners swept the titles in both men’s and women’s categories in the Fubon Taipei Marathon yesterday that drew more than 120,000 people, the organisers said. Josphat Kamzee Jekopol (above right) dashed to the line in two hours, 15 minutes and 27 seconds, but he failed to break the Taipei Marathon record 2:10:24 set by Yemane Adhane of Ethiopia last year. Jekopol was followed by compatriots Boniface Mbuvi Muema who clocked in 2:15:29 and Francis Kipkoech Bowen with 2:15:34. Fellow Kenyan Caroline Cheptonui Kilel won the women’s title in 2:30:19.
Rugby Union: The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) say they will consider installing a synthetic pitch at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for matches scheduled to take place at the 2015 World Cup. The Welsh national arena is set to host six games during the tournament but with the pitch currently needing to be relayed several times a year, the WRU believe an artificial surface might be the solution. “It is being given serious consideration. We are looking at the implications,” WRU chief executive Roger Lewis said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Swimming: Ryan Lochte, of the United States, clinched his fifth and sixth gold medals of the week at the world short course championships yesterday when he won the 100m medley and anchored the USA’s 4x100m medley relay team to victory. Lochte took the individual title in 51.21sec ahead of Australia’s Kenneth To in second with George Bowell III, of the United States, third. He then joined Matthew Grevers, Kevin Cordes and Thomas Shields in taking relay gold in 3min 21.03sec ahead of Russia and Australia. Just minutes before the 100m medley final yesterday, Lochte had won silver in the 200m backstroke.