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Christiansen eyes new challenge

Posted by admin under Equestrian

Paralympic dressage champion Sophie Christiansen is hoping a new horse will help her continue her medal success.

The 21-year-old from Berkshire will debut Rivaldo of Berkeley, known as Robin, at this week’s Para-Dressage European Championships in Norway.

Christiansen goes to Norway as defending champion in both the Grade 1a championship and freestyle categories.

“I’m looking forward to the Europeans but nervous at the same time,” she told BBC Sport.

“I have posted good results this year on Lambrusco, who I rode in Hong Kong, and also on Robin, so I am in a very good position, but trying not to get complacent.”

Christiansen has cerebral palsy, which affects all her muscles, and rides in the category for the most disabled riders.

She won two golds and a silver as Britain dominated the equestrian events in Hong Kong and is one of three Beijing medallists on the British team, along with Lee Pearson and Simon Laurens for the event which starts on Thursday.

Emma Sheardown, who competes in the same category as Christiansen, and Sophie Wells will make their European debuts with Athens Paralympian Jo Pitt completing the line-up.

As well as the individual competitions, Britain will be hoping to continue their long unbeaten run in the team event, which stretches back to the sport’s Paralympic introduction in 1996.

But Christiansen will be hoping to ease Robin into international competition as she looks ahead to the London 2012 Paralympics

“I’ve had Robin about three months and he’s coming on really well,” she explained.

“It’s been a sharp learning curve for him as he’s had to understand that my involuntary movements aren’t always instructions to him - for example, not to canter when my leg goes back.

“One of my strengths as a rider is that I can get almost any horse and get the best out of it. It is probably because I have never had my own horse and have had to rely on borrowing from the South Bucks Riding for the Disabled Association group.
“It is important that a rider has a back-up as you never know what could happen. For the Worlds in 2007, my main horse went lame two weeks before the competition so I had to quickly get used to another one and I still won a gold and a bronze.

“Robin’s improvement is shown by the fact he has beaten Lambrusco a few times, but although he has what it takes to compete at this level, we think it’s a bit too early for him to go to the Europeans.

“He needs to trust us and there is no need to rush him when Lambrusco is still coming up with the results.”

Christiansen warmed up for Norway with an impressive display at the recent Festival of Dressage at Hartpury where she rode both horses and finished first and second in all three classes and won the Supreme Individual Championship ahead of Pearson.

“I was very pleased with both horses that week - they performed impeccably, which made my life easier,” she said.

“It was my first big competition with Robin so we weren’t sure how he would be. The fact that I could transfer my skills on to another horse within a couple hours also impressed people, I think.”

With a new horse, Christiansen also had to think about the music to use in the freestyle event in Norway after becoming European, World and Paralympic freestyle champion on Lambrusco with music from Lord of the Rings.

“I wanted different music for Robin as a new horse and I also wanted something that would represent me more,” she explained.

“I thought Penny Lane by The Beatles with an intro from Live and Let Die by Wings was halfway there, since I was involved in Sir Paul McCartney’s Paralympic campaign last year.

“I still need to figure out how to get Eric Clapton or Kasabian into a music test though - somehow I don’t think the judges would appreciate it.”

Daley and Brick struggle in final

Posted by admin under Diving

British divers Tom Daley and Max Brick finished ninth in the men’s 10m synchro final in an inconsistent showing at the World Championships in Rome.

In the first major international final for the new pair, they were a promising fifth after two dives.

Daley, who won the 10m individual gold, was the more solid of the duo while Brick struggled a little as they ended with 390.36 points after six rounds.

Olympic champions Huo Liang and Lin Yue of China won gold with 482.58 points.

Daley and Brick were shown a masterclass by the champions but will have also gained encouragement from their performance after only joining forces in April.
Brick, 17, was mainly to blame for a poor third round dive as he gave up a huge splash on his entry into the water, which indicated his execution was lacking.

That dropped the pair from fifth to last in 12th and, although they moved up to 10th with their next effort, both struggled on their fifth effort as they languished in 11th.

But an excellent final dive showed what Daley and Brick are capable of as they moved up two places to finish in ninth.

“Training with Tom and going to Plymouth has been really good,” said Brick as he reflected on their first three months together.

Despite finishing some way off the medals, Daley was also content with a week in which he became Britain’s first individual world champion.

“I feel like I have been watching someone else do it,” he said.
“It has just been great. It has been a pretty cool week to say the least.

“It has been highs and there have been a couple of lows, but that is what you get with being a diver because anything can happen.”

But Brick is confident that his partner’s new status as a world champion will not affect his synchro work.

“He is still Tom,” he said.

Alexei Evangulov, who was overseeing his first major international competition as national performance director, was happy with the way the duo and the British team as a whole had performed.

“We have had nine finalists, seven top eight finishes and one gold medal,” he said.

“The performance of the team has made me hopeful of future successful performances because we have been mainly successful here.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere at the World Championships the British synchronised swimming team finished 10th in their final.

Blackburn seal signing of Salgado

Posted by admin under Football

Former Real Madrid right-back Michel Salgado has signed for Blackburn.

The 33-year-old, who has been capped 53 times for Spain, was available on a free transfer after Real cancelled his contract a year early.

Salgado spent 10 years at the Bernabeu, winning two Champions League medals as well as a host of domestic honours.

He has signed a two-year deal but will return to Madrid on Monday for a match in his honour while awaiting international clearance for Rovers.

Speaking after signing his contract, Salgado said he turned down a move to Chelsea five years ago.

“I had a chance to come to Chelsea but I was lucky too because my team was Real Madrid,” he told the Blackburn website.

“I love the club, I was there 10 years - it is a lifetime. I am proud of playing for them for so long.
“Now I want to enjoy the next two years, playing in the Premier League. It is one of the best in the world.

“Not only that it is pure football - fantastic games and a fantastic atmosphere. This will be a good experience for me, my wife and children. I have joined a historic club.”

It is something of a trademark move by Rovers manager Sam Allardyce, who gained a reputation while at Bolton for signing veteran players such as Youri Djorkaeff, Fernando Hierro and Ivan Campo.

Blackburn lost their opening match of the Premier League season 2-0 to Manchester City.

Rings star Van Gelder fails test

Posted by admin under Gymnastics

Former rings world champion gymnast Yuri van Gelder is facing a two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine.

The Dutch Gymnastics Union (KNGU) said it had suspended Van Gelder, 26, after a positive urine test result following a national competition in June.

Van Gelder, nicknamed ‘Lord of the Rings’ by the Dutch media, described his cocaine use as “idiotic”.

“I only did it for the fun,” he told a news conference. “I’m devastated about what’s happened.”

Van Gelder said the Dutch Defence Ministry had suspended him from his post as a sergeant ahead of disciplinary proceedings.

He added that he hoped to carry on his sporting career after the suspension and he would be seeking help for his drug use.

Van Gelder won the rings gold medal at the 2005 world championships and is the current European champion on the apparatus.

Baseball mourns youngest DiMaggio

Posted by admin under Baseball

Dom DiMaggio, the youngest of the three famous baseball-playing brothers, has died at the age of 92.

Dom’s middle sibling Joe is one of the sport’s legends whose 56-game hitting streak is a record that still stands.

A seven-time All Star himself, Dom still holds the record for the longest hitting streak for the Boston Red Sox - 34 games in the 1949 season.

Vince, the oldest DiMaggio brother, also played for five Major League teams. All three were centre-fielders.

Vince died aged 74 in 1986, while Hall of Famer Joe, a former husband of Marilyn Monroe, died in 1999 at the age of 84.