Saudi Arabia is working overtime to prepare for its Formula 1 debut, an official said, with the track still under construction ahead of the race in early December.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said organisers were “racing against time” and working “round the clock” in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
A visit to the track this week showed there was still much work to be done, with buildings under construction and cranes and diggers on site.
The floodlit circuit will run over 6.175km (3.8 miles), the second-longest on the F1 calendar, and will feature 27 corners. The race weekend is from 3-5 December.
Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, said there was a “huge demand” for tickets, even at a time when travel remains difficult because of the pandemic.
Tickets are also not cheap, ranging between 2,000 Saudi riyals (US $533) and 35,000 Saudi riyals (US $9,333).
“We’re expecting a huge turnout, especially from Europe and the United States,” he told reporters.
“The Formula One project has cost a lot, and it is standard that cost is compensated by the sale of tickets as well as other sources, including advertisements and local sponsors.”
The conservative kingdom has frequently been accused of ‘sportswashing’ after it began hosting a series of high-profile competitions.
Saudi Arabia already hosts the Dakar Rally, the all-electric Formula E series, in addition to top boxing, golf and tennis events.
Formula 1 has come under close scrutiny over the staging of a race in Bahrain, and the addition of Saudi Arabia is sure to escalate criticism from human rights watchers.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the penultimate event of the 22-race F1 calendar for 2021 which concludes in Abu Dhabi, in Gulf neighbour the United Arab Emirates.
بدأت ملامح أسرع وأجدد حلبة شوارع في الـ #فورمولا1 تتضح… انتظروا وسترون مدى روعتها😍📸
The fastest and newest street circuit in #F1 is really starting to take shape…
Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for second place in his group after the first day of the Professional Long Drivers Association World Championships in Mesquite, Nevada, averaging 406.2 yards on his five longest tee shots.
DeChambeau hit drives of 412, 408, 407, 403 and 401 yards on Tuesday to advance to the next round. The field on Wednesday will be narrowed from 64 to 32, with the top eight from each group advancing to Thursday, then down to the final 16 for Friday’s final round.
“I felt like I just won something today, I won a big PGA tournament, even though I just qualified for the next day, because it’s my first time,” DeChambeau said.
“It’s so exciting, it’s a bit of, I guess you could relate it to more of like a shot-putting exhibition or something, I think Olympics, where you’re just as hyped up as you possibly can be. So, being out there the first set was a little nerve wracking for me, I wasn’t comfortable. But going through the second, third, fourth, fifth, I just got more comfortable as time went on.”
His 412-yard drive was tied for third longest in his group with Josh Cassaday, who also had a 417-yard drive. Scottie Pearman, who leads the group, had a 413-yard drive.
Each competitor has five sets in which they each hit six balls. In each set, they compete directly against two or three other people. First place in that set gets 200 points, second place gets 100, third gets 50 and fourth 25.
DeChambeau had three firsts and two seconds to finish with 800 points, which was tied with Jim Waldron behind Pearman (900) in his group.
It has been a busy week for DeChambeau. After the United States’ victory in the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, DeChambeau flew to Detroit on Tuesday to help announce an extended contract between the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the Detroit Golf Club. He then headed to Mesquite for the long drive competition.
DeChambeau was able to hit a 417-yard drive in the Ryder Cup on the par-5 fifth hole, so it’s not out of the question to think he’s still capable of hitting it farther than his 412 on Tuesday.
“I let my body rest for the whole week and all that adrenaline from the Ryder Cup, tried to save as much as possible so I could be ready for this week,” DeChambeau said. “It was a brutal emotional week in a positive way and we wanted to save some for this week, so I’m going to go back and rest and give it my best tomorrow.”
Tory Barron is a Bristol-based writer and editor for ESPN.com. After retiring from playing lacrosse at UConn, the DC native decided to try her hand at writing about people playing sports.
The “Space Jam: A New Legacy” soundtrack sees the OG film’s soundtrack Seal, Quad City DJ’s, Busta Rhymes and Coolio and raises it Chance The Rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, Saweetie, John Legend, the Jonas Brothers and one Dame D.O.L.L.A., a.k.a Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.
The soundtrack for the highly anticipated new film and its much-ballyhooed predecessor have one thing in common — aside from the artist Salt-N-Pepa, who appears on both albums — and that’s a desire to be legendary.
“We knew that with the soundtrack for this one, that whole idea of making a soundtrack for this generation, but still having that melting pot, was something we all really wanted,” Spencer Beighley, head of film at LeBron James‘ production company SpringHill, said in a feature for Billboard.
It wouldn’t be unfair to assert that the new soundtrack has a greater legacy to live up to than the new film. As someone who still gets irrationally hyped upon hearing the words “it’s your chance, do your dance,” it’s good to know Beighley understands the gravity of the situation.
Dame D.O.L.L.A., who plays Chronos in the film, is the only actor (and athlete) to also appear on the album with the original song “About That Time” featuring G-Eazy, P-Lo and White Dave. While news that Lillard has a substantial role in the film broke in May, it wasn’t until June 17 that Dame Time took to Twitter to share he would also be on the album.
🪐 Already told y’all I’m in the movie, but I’m also excited to announce that I’m going to be on the @spacejammovie soundtrack. I’ve got a track with @G_Eazy, @p_lo and @white_dave called “About That Time.”
It comes as no surprise to anyone who is familiar with Lillard’s music that the hoops star would do both. Lillard has earned respect in the hip-hop world as a socially conscious lyricist as Dame D.O.L.L.A., which stands for Different On Levels the Lord Allows. He has recorded songs with some of the biggest names in the music industry including Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Jamie Foxx. He also performed with Wayne during NBA All-Star weekend in 2020. Last year in the NBA playoffs bubble, Lillard spent time laying down tracks when he was not occupied with basketball, turning part of his suite at the Walt Disney World Resorts into a mini recording studio.
“Where I’m from, if you got it, they try to take things. I was shrinking the circle before the cake came,” D.O.L.L.A. raps on the new track — which you can listen to, along with the rest of the soundtrack, right here:
Turkey defender Merih Demiral (2R) lies in a heap after scoring an own goal in the tournament opener against Italy Filippo MONTEFORTE AFP
While Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick top the individual scoring charts at Euro 2020, their five-goal hauls are well adrift of the 11 own goals at the tournament — a total that eclipses all the other European Championships combined.
AFP Sport picks out some of the most striking mishaps ahead of Sunday’s final between England and Italy:
Merih Demiral’s Turkish omen As Turkey went toe to toe with Italy in the opening game, Demiral’s moment of misadventure swung the game sharply in the hosts’ favour in Rome. The Juventus defender bundled Domenico Berardi’s cross into his own net, setting the tone for a disastrous Turkey campaign, as the first of many disappointments.
Double the pain for Wojciech Szczesny Not for the first time misfortune has stalked Szczesny at the Euro. The Poland goalkeeper, sent off in the opening game of the 2012 edition, unwittingly gave Slovakia the lead when Robert Mak’s shot cannoned back off the post and struck the prone Szczesny’s upper arm, trickling over the line much to the horror of the Juventus man.
Mats Hummels returns the favour Having knocked France out of the 2014 World Cup, Mats Hummels inadvertently settled one of the standout games of the first round with an own goal against the world champions. The Germany defender sliced a Lucas Hernandez cross into the roof of his own net in the 20th minute of a 1-0 loss to France in Munich. The Germans had their work cut out to reach the knockout phase after this defeat.
Huge helping hand from Martin Dubravka What was going through the mind of Martin Dubravka? Moments after saving an Alvaro Morata penalty in a crucial game with Spain, the Slovakia goalkeeper produced a clanger from which his team never recovered. Tracking the rebound as the ball looped down after striking the crossbar, Dubravka badly miscalculated his effort to tip over, comically swatting into his own goal. “Errors are part of life and football. I’m sure Martin will learn from that,” said Slovakia coach Stefan Tarkovic in defence of his blundering player. Unfortunately, the incident served to open the floodgates as Spain won 5-0, with Juraj Kucka also putting one past his own keeper.
Pedri and Unai Simon’s baffling team effort Never before at the tournament had an own goal been scored from outside the penalty area. Pedro and his goalkeeper Unai Simon changed all that as they combined to produce another bizarre Euro 2020 moment. The teenager’s back-pass from 45 metres rolled over the boot of an embarrassed Simon, who was left with his hands on knees and the own goal replaying through his head on a loop. Luckily for Spain they recovered to beat Croatia after extra time in a thrilling last-16 tie. It was the only time so far a team scoring an own goal had not gone on to lose.
Simon Kjaer suffers cruel fate Widely acclaimed for his handling of the Christian Eriksen trauma, the Denmark captain’s own goal against England ultimately contributed to ending his side’s fairytale run. Attempting to cut out a cross from Bukayo Saka, with Raheem Sterling waiting to pounce, Kjaer diverted into his own net to hand England the equaliser as they came from behind to win 2-1 in extra time in the semi-finals.
Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn inadvertently leaked the organisation’s upcoming Fight Camp schedule on Thursday, with the 42-year-old failing to hide his notes while taking a photo with a fan. The upcoming set of bouts will see British welterweight Conor Benn return to action alongside the likes of Joshua Buatsi, Kid Galahad and Avni Yildirim at Matchroom’s Brentwood facility.
Hearn engineered the Fight Camp concept last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc in the world of boxing and the wider sporting scene.
Dillian Whyte’s defeat at the hands of Alexander Povetkin was the highest-profile fight to take place during the 2020 edition, while Ted Cheeseman’s gruelling points victory over Sam Eggington for the IBF International super-welterweight strap marked another highlight.
A packed schedule is expected to grace Fight Camp once again this time around, with Hearn accidentally unveiling the line-up in a photo of himself and a fan that was posted to Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
The esteemed promoter, who oversees the career of two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, was snapped on a train with a page of notes on the table in front of him that unwittingly revealed his plans for the world to see.
Benn, the highly-rated son of British boxing legend Nigel, tops the bill for week one with a WBA Continental welterweight title defence against Mexican challenger Adrian Granados.
The latter has previously beaten the likes of Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner and Shawn Porter and should provide a strong test for Benn, who is yet to taste defeat after winning each of his 18 professional fights.
Meanwhile, female bantamweight champion Shannon Courtenay will be aiming to avenge last year’s defeat by Rachel Ball in a highly-anticipated rematch.
British super-middleweight Jack Cullen will also be in action against Yildirim, who was beaten by pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez in February, while Anthony Fowler and Campbell Hatton are set to feature but their respective opponents are yet to be confirmed.
In week two, Galahad has been paired with Liverpool-based fighter James Dickens for an all-British clash, with Florian Marku scheduled to face Maxim Prodan in the featherweight division.
DON’T MISS
Emerging heavyweight Johnny Fisher will also take to the ring as he looks to rack up three wins from as many professional outings.
The third and final week on Hearn’s list appeared to show just one fight, with Buatsi set to trade blows with Ricards Bolotniks of Latvia.
The former, who boasts an unbeaten record, will be hoping to retain his WBA International light-heavyweight title with a commanding performance.
Hearn recently suggested that Fight Camp could become a regular event after the conclusion of the pandemic, admitting that he was overwhelmed by the success of last year’s inaugural edition.
“This year’s Fight Camp will be on a whole new level in terms of the cards and the main events,” the Matchroom chief told DAZN earlier this week.
“The entertainment, the presentation, everything will be souped up for the 2021 Fight Camp. Even though we’ve only done one so far, we’re really hoping to make this a bit of a flagship event for Matchroom Boxing.
“The value we had as a business through creating Fight Camp was second to none because the world was watching, with no live events, or only a few events in a studio somewhere in a cul-de-sac.
“All of a sudden, we came out with fireworks blazing, electric ring walks, in our garden at our HQ. And the reception we received, even though we lost a lot of money, was great for our business even if not profitable.
“This year, again, it won’t be about making a lot of money. We will be investing it all into the production and the fighters.”
All three players were away from the team for practice at UNLV on Thursday. All nine members of Team USA who are in Las Vegas were on the court for the day’s workout as the national team prepares for the Tokyo Olympics.
Additionally, Select Team center Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons rolled his ankle and had to leave a scrimmage against the national team to get treatment, sources said.
The Select Team is scheduled to practice again Friday in its last formal workout of training camp. Team USA will play its first exhibition game Saturday against Nigeria in Las Vegas.
Lancashire seamer takes unexpected opportunity with new-ball strikes in England rout
The message Ben Stokes delivered to England’s hastily-assembled ODI squad ahead of the series with Pakistan, which involved 18 players being called in at barely 48 hours’ notice, was that “everyone deserves to be here”, Saqib Mahmood said after his four-wicket haul helped set up a disarmingly straightforward nine-wicket win over Pakistan in Cardiff.
Mahmood picked up two wickets in his first three balls to give England a near-perfect start after their rocky build-up, which saw the original squad go into self-isolation as a result of a number of Covid-19 positives. With the replacements having to meet one another over Zoom while they assembled in their hotel rooms and waited for the obligatory test results, Stokes and Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, were only able to oversee a single training session before sending out a team featuring 135 caps, 99 of which belonged to Stokes.
“I guess the message we’ve had, something Stokes reiterated last night after training was, ‘yes, it is weird circumstances, but at this given time, everyone here deserves their place and everyone here is the best player for that position that they’re in,'” Mahmood said. “I think the message that Stokesy gave the boys should help fill them with a lot of confidence – given it is weird circumstances – that everyone deserves to be here. That’s the message we’ve had.”
Playing in only his fourth ODI, Mahmood was still England’s senior seamer by a distance – Lewis Gregory and Brydon Carse were making their debuts, while Craig Overton had one previous appearance, in 2018, to his name. Mahmood has been on the fringes of England’s white-ball sides since making his T20I debut in New Zealand in 2019, but hadn’t been involved in an ODI XI since the Ireland series last summer.
“It’s the number one side in the world and you’ve got to do some pretty special things to take over from some of the guys who have the spots,” he said. “When I’ve played for England I haven’t managed to take that opportunity. I don’t think it’s a side where you’re coming in, you’ve got the time to settle. You’ve got to come in and try and make the most of your opportunity because there’s that many big players around.
“I felt in the T20s I haven’t nailed my place yet but in the one-day side I was just starting to make strides last summer and then obviously I haven’t played for 12 months. I’m glad I was able to take that opportunity today, and then hopefully I can just back it up in the rest of the series.”
Although several members of the side had not played List A cricket in more than two years, Mahmood said the ongoing Vitality Blast had been good preparation and that “the fact it all happened so quickly… was better”. He duly slipped into gear by trapping Imam-ul-Haq lbw first ball, and then having Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, taken at slip.
“Getting a wicket first ball is obviously the best start you can get off to – it just eases the nerves a little bit,” he said. “To get two in the first over was unbelievable, and it was just making sure after that we still kept the intensity up, didn’t go through the motions just because you’ve got a couple of poles early on. I felt we did that and obviously picked up four wickets in the first 10 [overs], which puts the opposition on the back foot straightaway. It was a great start – [we] couldn’t ask for much better.”
On removing Azam cheaply, he added: “Especially on a wicket like that, where it was doing a bit up top, you want to get him in as early as possible and try and get him out. The later he comes in, the harder it is to get someone of that quality out. So luckily for us, we got him in early and got him out as well.”
After a gentle introduction to captaining the limited-overs side in which he bowled one over and wasn’t required to bat, Stokes praised his untested attack for helping to kill the game early and urged the group to “enjoy the situation we find ourselves in” – as well as warning that Pakistan would be likely to come back stronger at Lord’s on Saturday.
“When you get any new group of players together you are always striving for that team performance and something like today is a massive boost,” he told Sky Sports. “But we do need to keep in mind that we weren’t put under any pressure today and I’ve got no doubt that we will [be] at some point. It’s also a great learning curve that sticking to the basics serves us really well but [we have to] remember that not every game of cricket will go that smoothly for us.
“I just said to them to go out and do what they had been doing for their counties this season and [in] previous seasons and enjoy the situation that we find ourselves in.”
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organizers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event.
Although widely expected, the move marked a sharp turnabout from just weeks ago, when organizers said they aimed to hold the global sporting showpiece with some spectators, and all but robs the July 23 to Aug. 8 Games of their last vestige of pomp and public spectacle.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said it was essential to prevent Tokyo, where the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant was spreading, from becoming the source of another wave of infections.
Venues outside the greater Tokyo metropolitan area would allow small numbers of spectators, and the policy for the Paralympics will be decided next month, the government said.
“It is regrettable that we are delivering the Games in a very limited format, facing the spread of coronavirus infections,” Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said following talks between government officials, Tokyo organizers and Olympic and Paralympic representatives.
“I am sorry for those who purchased tickets.”
MEDICAL WARNING
Once seen as a chance for Japan to stand large on the global stage after a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster a decade ago, the Games were delayed by the pandemic last year and have been hit by massive budget overruns.
Medical experts have said for weeks that having no spectators would be the least risky option, amid a sluggish program and widespread public fears that an influx of thousands of athletes and officials will fuel a fresh wave of infections.
Torch relays have been scaled back or taken off of public roads, and promotional events dropped. Tokyo – which had been counting on a record boom in tourism – has experienced none of the buzz and excitement that normally characterize host cities.
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Tokyo bans Olympic spectators due to COVID-19 state of emergency
Tokyo bans Olympic spectators due to COVID-19 state of emergency
Tokyo’s neighbouring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba will also not allow spectators at their Olympic events, the government said.
The government’s drive to hold the Olympics even as the epidemic worsens has alienated much of the Japanese public and sparked concern among sponsors about a consumer backlash.
Suga said COVID-19 infections were on the rise in Tokyo, due in part to the Delta variant, warning that it could hit the rest of the country.
“We absolutely must avoid Tokyo being the starting point again of another spread of the infection,” he told a news conference, adding that Japan’s vaccination program was making “good progress.”
New daily cases in Tokyo could increase to 1,000 in July and 2,000 in August, raising the risk of hospitals in the capital region running out of beds, according to recent projections from Yuki Furuse, a Kyoto University professor working with the government’s coronavirus experts group.
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SLOW VACCINE ROLLOUT
Japan has not suffered the kind of explosive COVID-19 outbreaks seen in many other countries but has had more than 810,000 cases and 14,900 deaths.
A slow vaccine rollout has meant only a quarter of the population has had at least one shot.
The new state of emergency in Tokyo, under which restaurants will be asked to stop serving alcohol, will begin on Monday and run through to Aug 22. It was announced as the capital reported 896 new daily infections on Thursday, near highs last seen in mid-May.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, who chaired Thursday’s talks after arriving in Tokyo earlier in the day, told reporters that strict measures were in place and those were successful.
Underscoring the last-minute nature of Olympic preparations, which had left sponsors frustrated, organizers presented various spectator scenarios to sponsors as late as Wednesday, according to sources.
Sponsors were told that in the case of no spectators, all sports and opening and closing ceremonies would likely be held without fans, meaning tickets allocated to sponsors could not be used.
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The absence of crowds will likely further strain the Games’ budget, which has already blown out to an estimated $15.4 billion, with ticket revenues of about $815 million expected to dwindle to close to zero.
Until this week, officials have insisted they could organize the Games safely with some spectators, but a ruling party setback in a Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, which some allies of Suga attributed to public anger over the Olympics, had forced the change of tack, sources said.
Japan will hold a parliamentary election this year and the government’s insistence that the Games should go ahead this year could cost it at the ballot box, they said.
(Additional reporting by Rocky Swift, Eimi Yamamitsu, Elaine Lies, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Chang-Ran Kim; Writing by Antoni Slodkowski and David Dolan; editing by John Stonestreet)
England’s forward Harry Kane celebrates after winning the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-final football match between England and Denmark at Wembley Stadium in London on July 7, 2021. (Photo by Frank Augstein / POOL / AFP)
England captain Harry Kane said his side’s experience of losing a World Cup semi-final three years ago helped pull them through a nerve-wracking clash with Denmark to reach the European Championship final for the first time.
Kane scored the winning goal in extra time after his penalty had been saved by Kasper Schmeichel to spark wild scenes of celebration in front of 64,950 fans at Wembley.
England had fallen behind for the first time in the tournament when Mikkel Damsgaard fired a brilliant free-kick into the top corner.
But they responded immediately as Simon Kjaer could only turn into his own goal under pressure from Raheem Sterling.
“We said all along, we can talk about how we’ve learned from 2018 but it’s about doing it on the pitch,” said Kane. “We stayed calm, there was no panic.
“These games are about character, digging in and belief. This will just give us more belief going into Sunday now.”
England will face Italy in Sunday’s final with another huge home crowd on their side at Wembley.
“It’s going to be an amazing occasion for sure. As the game gets closer the excitement and nerves will kick in,” added Kane.
“It’s going to be a special day, but we need to make sure we are on the winning side.”
The winning penalty came about in controversial circumstances as Raheem Sterling went down in the box under minimal contact from Joakim Maehle.
“I thought it was a penalty,” said Kane. “I thought I should’ve had a penalty in the second half as well. It probably evened itself out over the game.”
Wilder, on the other hand, has been vocal in the build-up, and has already declared he believes Fury will cheat in order to retain the WBC strap.
The Bronze Bomber has frequently claimed Fury tampered with his gloves in their second fight, and has declared the fight was stopped prematurely, as well as claiming his ring walk attire was too heavy, causing him to be unable to move properly.
Now, he has claimed Fury’s team is preparing a “master plan” to cheat and gain an illegal advantage.
He said this week: “You think he ain’t gonna try to cheat this time? Oh they’re thinking of it, they’re coming up with a master plan.
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