MOSCOW: A group of Russian track and field athletes want to beat dopers with science and show that their country can win clean.
Formed in the shadow of Russia's doping scandals, the Rocket Science Project is hoping to encourage whistleblowers and create an independent training camp with a strict no-drugs policy.
The group says ignorance and greed have driven Russian athletes to use drugs for years as a short cut to success, justifying it with the belief everyone else does it too.
"It's stupid to deny that we have big problems with doping in our country. As a consequence of that, sports technology, science and knowledge are probably 20 years behind the modern world level," says Evgeny Pishchalov, the slightly built distance runner-turned-coach who leads the project. "If our system doesn't restructure, we're at risk of ending up without any Olympic medals in the coming years. We've been left with no choice — change or die."
Rocket Science has already launched a hotline for doping whistleblowers, and is working to set up the training camp. Members will have to pay a $25,000 fine if they ever test positive.
The group wants to stay independent of Russian institutions and sports officials accused of overseeing widespread doping. Sergei Litvinov, a top hammer thrower, says Rocket Science will accept limited cooperation but "as soon as we feel any kind of pressure, we'd rather shut it all down."
Russia's ban from international track and field in 2015 for widespread drug use sparked anger from Russian athletes who felt the sanction was not fair.
As denials dominated social media debates among Russian athletes and coaches, a minority argued for reforms and a doping crackdown, and said Russia should not be proud of drug cheats' medals. That sowed the seeds for the Rocket Science Project, though convincing more Russian athletes to follow their lead is hard.
"We've got the mentality that all the others (in other countries) are gulping down banned substance and we do it a little less, so we're the good ones," says Vasily Permitin, a runner who's part of the project. "And if you believe everyone is taking it, reporting on them is seen as bad."
Russian history breeds hostility toward whistleblowers like Vitaly Stepanov and Yulia Stepanova, the husband-and-wife team whose testimony of mass drug use sparked the first inquiries into Russian doping in 2014.
Memories of Soviet-era repression mean informers are rarely welcome in Russia, but Rocket Science's supporters argue that if doping violators are called out by other Russians, it'll show the culture is changing. Using an anonymous service on a Russian social network, they've asked users to submit footage of coaches and athletes who continue working despite their bans, a persistent problem in Russia.
As well as catching cheats, they want to show that Russia's doping culture is changing. That's a key condition for Russia to be reinstated by track's world governing body, the IAAF.
The longer Russia's ban goes on, the harder it is for athletes to make a living without competing in lucrative competitions abroad.
"I know people who, as the situation has carried on and continued, they can't feed their families," marathon runner Stepan Kiselyov says. "They're forced to quit and go to work. There are quite a lot of athletes like that."
Rocket Science's athletes know little of state involvement in doping, a charge vehemently denied by the government. Instead they describe a system with cut-throat rivalries, every reason to dope and little interest in stopping cheats.
Yaroslav Rybakov, a former European high jump champion, says he felt uncomfortable as a clean athlete on the national team. He believes Russian officials deliberately avoided testing team members who used drugs, instead testing him repeatedly.
"They just told me: 'You've been picked once again,'" said Rybakov, who now plans to coach for Rocket Science. The competition was fiercest at the national championships, where a good finish guarantees state grants for the next year. "The stakes were very high," Rybakov said. "It was perhaps even harder or just as hard to win the Russian nationals while clean than the main competitions that season, like the world championships or Olympics."
Drug use starts in childhood for some athletes — even Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has acknowledged coaches in Russia's vast network of sports schools often encourage youngsters to dope. Cash prizes at regional youth competitions incentivize doping, argues Permitin, adding that young talents often develop a "disgust for sport."
Rocket Science's athletes want to fund training with sponsorships, rather than government money. Most top Russian athletes have contracts with the regional governments and federations that often mean they aren't allowed to choose which competitions to enter. They can also make it hard to leave a coach whose methods are unsuitable — or illegal.
Rocket Science remains far from its dream of an independent, clean Russian athletics base. They've found a site in the provincial city of Yoshkar-Ola, but must recruit more coaches and raise funds. They hope companies will rush to be linked with fresh faces in the tainted world of Russian track.
Instead of doping, chief Rocket Science coach Pishchalov plans to help athletes with sophisticated data analysis, movie-style motion capture technology and even electrical stimulation of the brain. The Russian Olympic Committee already has an "innovation center" packed with modern training and analysis equipment, but he says it's underused because many coaches lack the right knowledge.
Rocket Science has moral support from top Russian track officials keen to show Russia's drug culture is changing, but its members say they will resist any attempts to manipulate their work.
For hammer thrower Litninov, reforms are overdue. If they help him compete at a fifth career world championships later this year, so much the better.
"The situation was probably terrible for ages, but now a lot of people are recognizing it," he says. "We need to get together and change it."
Russian athletes fight back against doping, state control
Russian athletes fight back against doping, state control
Manchester United to play May friendlies in Malaysia, Hong Kong
- Ruben Amorim’s side will face an ASEAN All-Star XI team in Kuala Lumpur on May 28
- Man U finish another disappointing Premier League campaign on May 25 at home to Aston Villa
HONG KONG: Manchester United will play friendly matches in Malaysia and Hong Kong three days after the end of the Premier League season, the club said Tuesday.
Ruben Amorim’s side will face an ASEAN All-Star XI team in Kuala Lumpur on May 28 and the Hong Kong representatives on May 30.
They will finish what has been another disappointing Premier League campaign on May 25 at home to Aston Villa.
United last visited Asia when they played Liverpool in Thailand in July 2022.
They will take part in the Premier League Summer Series in the United States ahead of the 2025-2026 season.
Chief executive Omar Berrada said: “Importantly, tour fixtures drive significant additional revenue which help make the club stronger, allowing us to keep investing in success on the pitch.”
Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool previously announced they will visit Hong Kong in July.
United, who currently languish 13th in the Premier League, last visited the Chinese city in 2013.
The Hong Kong team is managed by former United youth team player Ashley Westwood and is ranked 153rd in the world.
Al-Taawoun eye continental glory in AFC Champions League Two
- Wolves Park in Buraidah will host the first leg of the semifinal between the Saudi club and the UAE’s Sharjah on Tuesday
AUSTRALIA: Wolves Park may not have the grandeur of other stadiums in Saudi Arabia, but it lacks nothing when it comes to drama — especially in Al-Taawoun’s run to the AFC Champions League Two semi-finals.
The 6,000-capacity stadium on the northern edges of Buraidah will on Tuesday host arguably the biggest game in the team’s history, 2019 King’s Cup final aside.
This is just the fourth time they have featured in Asian competition. While the ACL Two may be second tier, behind the AFC Champions League Elite, the new continental format means it is far more prestigious than its former incarnation, the AFC Cup.
After topping their group with five wins from six, Al-Taawoun faced Qatar’s Al-Wakrah in the Round of 16. After 2-2 draws across both legs, penalties decided the outcome — with Al-Taawoun advancing 4-3 after a thrilling climax in front of a raucous home crowd.
The drama of that night was not only matched but surpassed when they faced Iranian side Tractor in the quarterfinal. After a scoreless game in Iran, Al-Taawoun were confident of victory in front of a capacity crowd at Wolves Park.
A see-sawing battle ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, with both sides scoring again in extra time. Once more, penalties would test the nerves of the Al-Taawoun faithful who packed the stands.
Reserve goalkeeper Abdulquddus Atiah, deputizing for the injured Mailson, pulled off a huge save to deny Sajjad Ashouri and help his club through to a continental semifinal.
It was a moment that reduced interim coach Mohammed Al-Abdali to tears, pictured sitting in the center circle long after the final whistle had blown, as he took in the enormity of the moment. The rest of the ground was filled with wild celebrations.
“I thank the Al-Taawoun fans and promise them that we won’t stop at this stage, we will continue until the end,” 51-year-old Al-Abdali said afterwards.
Following that entree, admission to the 6,000-capacity stadium will be the hottest ticket in town on Tuesday.
Another full house is expected as the boutique venue hosts the first leg of the semi-final against UAE powerhouse Sharjah FC, with fans eyeing another slice of history.
If Al-Taawoun win the semifinal, a trip to either Singapore or Australia awaits. The ACL Two’s rotation policy means this year’s final will be hosted by the winner of the East Zone — either Singapore’s Lion City Sailors or Australia’s Sydney FC.
For a club the size of Al-Taawoun, the chance of a continental final rarely comes around. This might be their only opportunity for some time.
The new structure means the top three finishers in the Saudi Pro League qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite, while the King’s Cup winners qualify for the AFC Champions League Two.
This season, the league’s “Big Five” fill all those spots — the four PIF-owned clubs plus Al-Qadsiah — and with their financial power increasing, it’s hard to see a future in which any other club can break in.
And with clubs like NEOM SC — coached by Pericles Chamusca, who guided Al-Taawoun to fourth last season — set to join the SPL next year, with all the financial backing they bring, expect it to be even tougher for the smaller clubs, which operate on far smaller budgets, to qualify for Asian competition as they did last season.
That’s what makes Al-Taawoun’s clash with Sharjah over the next two weeks so momentous. Never say never in sport, but this could be their make-or-break chance. After the high of their fourth-placed finish last season, they have come back to the pack this year and currently sit in seventh, nine points behind sixth-placed Al-Shabab.
Given the rising quality of the SPL, seventh for a club its size is nothing to be ashamed of, but it does highlight how difficult it will be to match last season’s heroics and return to this position in the future.
However, after a 2-0 win over Al-Kholood last Friday, Al-Taawoun carry with them confidence and momentum.
With the finals of the ACL Elite in Saudi Arabia in just over two weeks, it would be easy for this match to fall under the radar as attention focuses on the country’s biggest clubs, stadiums and fan bases.
But not in Buraidah. Not among the Al-Taawoun faithful. They’ll be at Wolves Park on Tuesday hoping to add another successful chapter to the club’s rich history.
Newcastle step up Champions League chase with Leicester win
- Fifth place will almost certainly be enough to secure a place in the Champions League next season after strong performances by English clubs in continental competition
LEICESTER, United Kingdom: Newcastle coasted to a 3-0 win over sorry Leicester on Monday to step up their Champions League charge and condemn the Foxes to an eighth straight Premier League defeat without scoring.
Eddie Howe’s men, still on a high after winning the League Cup last month, are up to fifth in the table, level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea, but with a game in hand.
Fifth place will almost certainly be enough to secure a place in the Champions League next season after strong performances by English clubs in continental competition.
But Ruud van Nistelrooy’s hapless team are heading back down to the Championship after a solitary season in the Premier League.
The visitors were 2-0 up in the 11th minute after two goals from Jacob Murphy, the second a tap-in from close range after an audacious effort from Fabian Schar hit the crossbar, and Harvey Barnes added a third before half-time.
Leicester were brighter in the second half but could not end their goal drought in the league, which stretches back to January.
The opening moments of the contest gave false hope to the long-suffering home fans as Jamie Vardy tested Nick Pope in the visitors’ goal.
Newcastle were ahead in the just second minute after Tino Livramento squared for Murphy to tap home after an attack down the left.
Minutes later time stood still as Schar, spotting goalkeeper Mads Hermansen off his line, nearly scored from his own half.
His effort cannoned off the crossbar but landed at the feet of Murphy, who was the only player to react.
The game was effectively over before half-time when former Leicester player Barnes finished from close range after Hermansen saved from Joelinton, declining to celebrate.
Van Nistelrooy introduced Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Buonanotte for Victor Kristiansen and Patson Daka at the interval and the game was more even in the second period, but Leicester struggled to make an impact.
The home fans cheered the entrance of 15-year-old Jeremy Monga late in the game as he became the second-youngest Premier League player.
Newcastle, whose fortunes have been transformed since a Saudi-funded takeover in 2021, are eyeing another season in the Champions League after exiting at the group stage in the 2023/24 campaign — after two decades away.
Howe, who led Newcastle to their first major trophy in 56 years against Liverpool at Wembley last month, has the chance to add gloss to a historic season.
But it is a tight battle — only six points separate third-placed Nottingham Forest from Aston Villa in seventh spot.
Van Nistelroy arrived at the King Power Stadium in November after a spell as interim manager at Manchester United but results have nosedived after an encouraging start.
The shock 2016 Premier League champions are almost certain to be joined in the second tier by Ipswich, who also came up last season.
Basement club Southampton are the only club whose relegation has been confirmed.
Rippers, Marc Leishman sweep both trophies on demanding Blue Monster
- It’s the 14th time in LIV Golf history that a team has swept both trophies
MIAMI: The all-Australian Ripper GC team held a preseason training camp in January on the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral. The weather was cold, misty and windy. The 10th fairway was inaccessible. The conditions were brutal — but the payoff came Sunday at LIV Golf Miami.
The Rippers won the battle of survival under the harshest scoring circumstances in league history, with popular veteran Marc Leishman claiming his first LIV Golf individual title after shooting the week’s only bogey-free round. His Rippers won the team title with a cumulative 4-over total, the first time any team has won with an over-par score.
“It kicked our butts when we were here in January for the training camp, and it did the same again this week,” Leishman said. “I guess it kicked our butt less than everyone else.”
Leishman conquered the Blue Monster on Sunday by posting the only bogey-free round by any player this week, a 5-under 67 to finish at 6 under, one stroke better than Stinger GC’s Charl Schwartzel. Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia was another stroke back in solo third.
It’s the 14th time in LIV Golf history that a team has swept both trophies. And it’s the first win of any kind in four years for the 41-year-old Leishman, who had three runner-up finishes and five other top 10s since joining LIV Golf with his captain Cameron Smith in the middle of the inaugural 2022 season.
“It’s been a long time coming for Leish,” Smith said. “He’s knocked on so many doors, and at times has felt probably unlucky. Even for me as a mate, I’ve felt like he’s been unlucky.”
In the previous LIV Golf tournament in Singapore last month, Leishman tied for 51st, his worst result in LIV Golf.
But on a demanding course toughened by wind gusts and firm greens, Leishman produced a masterpiece of steady, patient play.
“It was pretty disgusting how I played there,” Leishman said of Singapore. “To come back on a golf course like this where there’s trouble around every single corner, I think playing so bad in Singapore helped me today just not letting my guard down at all.”
Leishman started Sunday three shots off the lead but quickly moved up the leaderboard with birdies in two of his first four holes.
He shared the lead with round 2 leader Bryson DeChambeau through eight holes, but the Crushers GC captain went bogey-double bogey around the turn to effectively end his chances.
Leishman’s final birdie of the day at the par-5 10th gave him a three-shot cushion and he nursed it with eight consecutive pars to end his round, never providing his challengers with an opening.
Even so, several players made a charge on the back nine.
Stingers GC’s Charl Schwartzel reeled off four straight birdies to climb into contention, while teammate Dean Burmester, the defending LIV Golf Miami champion, also made noise before a disastrous final two holes.
Garcia, seeking his second win of the season, was 3-under during a 11-hole stretch.
His birdie at the 17th after a brilliant approach shot moved him within a shot of Leishman’s lead.
Leishman, playing in the group ahead of Garcia, found the trees with his tee shot at the 18th and had to punch out.
His third shot left him 13 feet above the pin, but he knocked in the clutch par putt to keep the lead.
Garcia ultimately bogeyed the 18th, hitting his tee shot into the trees, then finding the water with his approach.
“I’ve played well in a lot of LIV events,” Leishman said. “I’ve had chances to win, haven’t won. You wonder if you’re going to win again … I doubted myself but that just made it all so much sweeter today.”
Bengaluru edge Mumbai to spoil Bumrah’s return in IPL
- Virat Kohli and skipper Rajat Patidar hit 67 and 64 to steer Bengaluru to 221-5
- Hardik Pandya smashed a 15-ball 42 and Tilak Varma struck 56 as Mumbai finished on 209-9
MUMBAI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru survived a batting blitz from Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya to win a thriller by 12 runs on Monday in the IPL and spoil Jasprit Bumrah’s return from an injury.
Mumbai named Bumrah in the XI as the India bowler returned three months after he missed the final day of the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney due to a back injury.
Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli and skipper Rajat Patidar hit 67 and 64 to steer Bengaluru to 221-5 after being invited to bat first at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
In reply, Pandya smashed a 15-ball 42 and Tilak Varma struck 56, but five-time champions Mumbai finished on 209-9 for their fourth defeat in five matches this season.
Hardik’s elder brother and Bengaluru spinner Krunal Pandya held his nerve to bowl the final over when Mumbai needed 19 runs but lost three wickets including two on the first two balls.
Krunal, a left-arm spinner, returned figures of 4-45 in Bengaluru’s third win in four matches.
Patidar was named player of the match, but said, “This award goes to the bowling unit. It is not easy to stop any team, especially at this ground, and the way they have done it, was incredible.”
“The way the fast bowlers executed their plans was amazing. The way KP (Krunal Pandya) bowled that last over, it was not easy and the way he bowled was amazing. The way he has shown the courage was fantastic.”
Mumbai slipped to 99-4 including former captain Rohit Sharma out for 17, but Hardik and the left-handed Varma put on 89 runs to turn on the heat with fours and sixes.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Varma and then Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood took down Pandya for his second wicket in the 19th over to derail the chase.
Left-arm medium-pace bowler Yash Dayal also took two key wickets including Rohit, bowled for 17 after he came in as an impact substitute, and Suryakumar Yadav for 28.
Earlier, Hardik took two wickets and Bumrah registered figures of 0-29 in Bengaluru’s mammoth total as Kohli and Patidar bossed the opposition bowling.
“Having him (Bumrah) makes any team in the world very special,” Hardik said of his pace ace. “He came in and did his job, very happy to have him.”
Kohli lost opening partner Phil Salt on the second ball of the match off New Zealand left-arm quick Trent Boult, but soon took on the bowlers with regular boundaries.
He put on 91 runs for the second wicket with left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 37 off 22 balls, and reached his fifty off 29 balls with a six.
Padikkal fell but Kohli put together 48 runs with Patidar until Hardik hit back.
Hardik sent back Kohli and then England’s Liam Livingstone, out for a duck, in the space of four deliveries.
The runs kept coming as Patidar was joined by Jitesh Sharma, who hit an unbeaten 40, and the two hammered 69 runs off 27 balls.
Jitesh finished with a flourish in his 19-ball knock laced with two fours and four sixes despite a disciplined last over from Bumrah.
