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Cycling: Double Olympic cycling champion Anna Meares (picture, right) will carry Australia’s flag at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Games next month. The 32-year-old, who will defend her track sprint title at her fourth Games, edged out other candidates including Olympic race walking champion Jared Tallent and 37-year-old hockey stalwart Jamie Dwyer for the honour. Chef de mission Kitty Chiller presented Meares with the flag at a ceremony at Melbourne’s Federation Square yesterday.
Doping: Italian sports agent Federico Rosa is being questioned by Kenyan police over the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes his company managed, court documents showed yesterday. Kenya, renowned for its distance runners, has faced frequent allegations of doping, with some 40 cases reported in the past four years. The IOC said last month that competitors from Russia and Kenya, given the recent history of doping in both countries, would have to be screened individually before being allowed to participate in the Rio Games next month.
Motor Racing: Formula One’s deputy race director Michael ‘Herbie’ Blash, who has been part of the sport for 50 years and managed the Brabham team run by Bernie Ecclestone in the 1970s, is to step down at the end of the season. The governing FIA said the 67-year-old would be replaced by Frenchman Laurent Mekies who will also continue as FIA safety director. Blash and race director Charlie Whiting have been an important double act in F1 since the 1990s.
Cricket: Australia’s cricket board has banned two players for betting on matches and given a suspended ban to a third as part of its “zero tolerance” approach to gambling-related corruption. Hayley Jensen and Corinne Hall, who play in the national women’s league, were both given two-year bans with 18 months suspended. Joel Logan, who plays in the men’s domestic competition, was sanctioned for placing two bets on the winner of the World T20 tournament.
Olympics: Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia has committed to representing his country at the Rio Olympics, despite a host of his fellow professionals withdrawing from the Games citing fears concerning the Zika virus. “I know there are some dangers but representing Spain, trying to make golf grow and becoming an Olympian are too important so I’ll be at @Olympics,” the world number 12 tweeted on his verified account.
Tour de France: Belgian Greg van Avermaet claimed the overall leader’s yellow jersey when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de France at the end of a long breakaway as Alberto Contador appeared to suffer from crash-related injuries. The Spaniard, who hit the deck twice in the two opening stages, cracked in the finale and lost 23 seconds to the other top guns who finished together more than five minutes behind BMC rider Van Avermaet. Overall, Van Avermaet leads France’s Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step) by five minutes 11 seconds and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by 5:13.