Russian six-time world breaststroke champion Yulia Efimova is enjoying some Hawaiian sunshine before the 29-year-old prepares for her planned return at the million-dollar Swimming World Cup in October.
The two-time Olympic silver medalist later revealed she was unsure over her future in the pool and whether she would keep going until the Paris Games in 2023.
In the nearer term, however, a representative has told the Russian media that the Grozny-born star plans to compete in each stage of the lucrative four-stage FINA World Cup in October.
The event kicks off in Berlin on October 1-3, before moving on to Budapest for the dates of October 7-9. That is followed by a visit to Doha on 21-23 of the month, before wrapping up in the Russian city of Kazan on October 28-30 – a location where Efimova tasted world championship gold in 2015.
World swimming organization FINA proudly announced at the end of August that $224,000 would be distributed among the top 20 athletes of each stage, with more than $500,000 going to the top 10 swim stars at the end of the overall rankings. Total prize money will be an eye-catching $1,452,000.
Efimova seems set to compete – but in the meantime has treated fans to some snaps from her island getaway at Hawaii’s Laniakea Beach.
Posing in a colorful bikini near a coconut tree, the svelte Efimova pouted for the camera and added the caption “island life.”
The swim stunner’s latest offering drew a range of emojis – from flames, to bombs and love hearts – and included some cheeky responses.
“Nice coconuts,” quipped one follower.
Efimova delighted fans with another bikini beach snap earlier in her holiday, on that occasion donning a bright green number.
“Long-awaited holiday,” wrote the star.
“All this is very good! I would even say great,” wrote prominent Russian sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev.
If Efimova’s World Cup plans are confirmed, she will soon be slipping out of a bikini and into a full swimsuit as she prepares for a run at the riches on offer in Berlin, Budapest, Doha and Kazan.
Team USA have made Covid vaccination mandatory for any athletes hoping to compete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics – although traditional powerhouses Norway said they will not be following suit by making jabs compulsory.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced on Wednesday that any athletes and staff hoping to be on the plane to China will have to have received their shots against Covid-19 by December 1.
“This step will increase our ability to create a safe and productive environment for Team USA athletes and staff, and allow us to restore consistency in planning, preparation and optimal service to athletes,” the organization said, adding that any possible exemptions would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The US had no vaccine mandate in place for athletes at the Summer Games in Tokyo but has changed its stance ahead of Beijing in February.
However, the most successful nation in Winter Olympic history won’t be following in the US’ ski-tracks.
“We are not going to compel athletes to get vaccinated,” Finn Aagaard of Norwegian Sports Federation and the Olympic and Paralympic Committee (NIF) told Reuters.
“Vaccines are freely available in Norway and it is our experience that there is a very high uptake among athletes, but we do not have insight into every individual’s status.”
Elsewhere, Sweden and Finland are unlikely to demand vaccination among athletes while Germany will wait for the release of the Beijing 2022 ‘playbook’ in October, according to Reuters.
The US is set to send around 240 athletes to the Beijing Games, but hundreds more hoping to make the final squad will also need to ensure they are covered.
The USOPC estimated that 83% of its 600+ delegation of athletes in Tokyo had been vaccinated.
However, big names who announced they hadn’t been jabbed included golf star Bryson DeChambeau – who ended up testing positive for Covid just before he was due to depart for Japan.
It remains to be seen whether there are any dissenting voices this time round as the US requires all its stars to roll up their sleeves for a shot at gold in Beijing.
Oleksandr Usyk raised a few eyebrows with his sartorial choices during Thursday’s press conference with Anthony Joshua but the Ukrainian slugger remains ideally poised to cause a shock at boxing’s heavyweight summit.
You know what they say about best laid plans.
Boxing has long had an issue with timing. No, not the type of timing one might expect to see in the ring in the crossfire of a fist-fight, but rather one of the sport consistently failing to set up the type of fights that fans wants to see.
The primary evidence of this, in recent years at least, was the so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao – a bout which it is unanimously agreed upon took place about five years too late.
The years following have sometimes seen a similar script. It can be argued that Gennady Golovkin was past his best in his two-fight series with Canelo Alvarez, while boxing fans can also point to a host of other scraps which either haven’t happened, or haven’t happened when they should have.
Boxing’s latest iteration of this familiar tale concerns the two men who hold all the marbles in the sport’s heavyweight frame: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. The two British fighters have repeatedly cleared a path towards one another, only for road blocks to emerge just at it seemed likely a deal may be agreed.
For Fury, it was the court arbitration which ruled that he was contractually obligated to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time, again scuppering talks aimed at placing the world’s two best heavyweight fighters in the ring together.
The resulting gap in Joshua’s schedule allowed for the the WBO’s mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk to jump the line – with the undefeated Ukrainian now cast in the role of being spoiler to the hypothetical Joshua-Fury showdown.
In a certain light, it seems as if both Usyk and Joshua have been on a collision course for much of their careers. Both men won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London; Joshua at super-heavyweight and Usyk at heavyweight, and both have progressed through their ensuing professional careers with relative ease (Andy Ruiz notwithstanding).
And as Usyk has told the media on fight week, he sees all the pressure as being on Joshua to perform in front of his hometown crowd at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“I believe it will be more difficult for him because he has three titles to defend and he’s fighting at home and defending at home,” said Usyk. “Then a baldish guy from Ukraine will come to his home country and will be looking for a big fight.
“In 2012, I was not thinking about fighting him because at that time I didn’t enter professional boxing yet but it was obvious he would become a superstar even back then because of the combination of factors; a guy from the UK, a heavyweight and many many other things. It was obvious that he would be a superstar.
“He says he does not remember me from back then… well, I believe he is joking. It doesn’t matter. I do remember him and have been watching his fights for quite a long time.“
Usyk brings a refreshing charm with him into the upper echelon of heavyweight boxing, having already ploughed through the cruiserweight ranks as undisputed champion.
The Ukrainian is hailed as being one of the sport’s more interesting characters – as evidenced by the shaven-headed fighter attending Thursday press conference with Joshua dressed as Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ character from the movie of the same name.
Embodying that role even further, the Ukrainian boxer even showcased his juggling skills to the media this week as he inches ever closer to the biggest fight of his life.
Usyk’s affable nature and savvy media tricks might well lead to some dropping their guard as to the concussive dangers he poses in the ring – but one suspects that if Joshua quite literally does that in their fight on Saturday, there will be a right hook coming his way as if it was delivered from the muddy banks of the Dnieper.
More than all of that, though, Usyk finds himself with an enviable opportunity to insert his name into a heavyweight division which has been dominated by just three names since the retirement of Wladimir Klitschko: Fury, Joshua and Wilder.
And not only can he play spoiler by beating Joshua and delaying, or even cancelling, the mooted Joshua-Fury fight, Usyk can announce himself as one of the world’s best heavyweights as he looks to follow in Evander Holyfield’s footsteps by claiming gold in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight frames.
If, as Usyk predicts, it is Joshua who will be lying on his back and staring at the lights in London this weekend, it will be a crushing blow not just to the man he defeated, but to British boxing fans as a whole who have long craved the ‘Battle of Britain’ at the sport’s heavyweight summit.
There will be no happier man than the Ukrainian in this instance, as well as being yet another reminder that boxing should be obliged to strike while the iron is hot and better navigate the hurdles which keep its top stars separate.
But one suspects that Usyk will have a wry smile should this particular scenario unfold.
“Some people,” as Alfred Pennyworth said of Heath Ledger’s Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’, “just want to watch the world burn“.
Parrii Srohi didn’t impress the judges at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk but the Indian figure-skater has no regrets about competing as she paid tribute to the Russian greats from whom she gained inspiration.
The 17-year-old Srohi failed to impress the judges with her showing at the event in the Siberian city, scoring just 27.56 points in total – including a tally of just 0.84 for the technical elements in her short program, which is reportedly the lowest ever recorded.
Her result saw her rooted to last place in the standings, some 17 points behind the figure-skater in second-last position.
However, the Indian who took up the sport just three years ago says that the defeat is just part of her continuing journey through the sport.
Srohi explained afterwards that the event was her first international tournament, and that coming to skate in Russia held particular significance for her as she valued the chance to work with Russian trainers.
Pointing to some of her inspirations, Srohi named some famous Russians on the ice from down the years, including Sochi 2014 sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya – whose performance at the Winter Olympics seven years ago Srohi described as “legendary.”
Parri Srohi(IND)skating out of pure joy at her first JGP in Russia a week ago. Parri grew up&trained almost entirely in India where there is dearth of ice& artificial ice rinks.Her coach since she started has been @NishchayLuthra of Luthra International Figure Skating Academy. pic.twitter.com/8Mn6TP6QQn
A young MMA hopeful has passed away aged just 22 after he took part in a fight earlier this month and was then hospitalized amid complaints about headaches in the hours that followed the bout in southern Brazil.
Lucas Gabriel Peres hailed from Peabiru in South America’s largest country with his scrap in a K-1 competition taking place two hours away in Marina, Parana state.
Just hours after his match, when already arriving back in Peabiru, Peres complained of suffering from a headache and was taken to a local hospital in Campo Mourao.
His condition gradually worsening, he was then sent to the Metropolitan Hospital in Sarandi and eventually pronounced dead last Saturday on September 18.
El luchador brasileño, Lucas Gabriel Peres de artes marciales mixtas (MMA), murió a sus 22 años a causa de las lesiones sufridas durante una pelea que disputó hace semanas, según diagnósticos. Se dedicaba a las MMA como aficionado y era tan solo su segunda pelea.#IGpic.twitter.com/2X0d2sK0jX
A report from a local branch of domestic media giant Globo has said that the organizers of the event have been in direct contact with Peres’ family and do not plan to make any comment on the development.
The Medical Legal Institute is looking into the cause of the youngster’s passing, with his death certificate detailing that he suffered from head trauma.
His career barely able to get off the ground, Pires competed just once at amateur level and lost a May bout to compatriot Leandro Pires.
The September outing was meant to be his return to competition, but concluded in the most tragic of fashions.
Head trauma is fast becoming one of MMA’s hottest topics of discussion alongside fighter pay, with the president of its most elite championship, the UFC, admitting that more could be done to aid those such as Spencer Fisher and others who have shown signs of the condition.
“Listen, we’re all learning every day about the brain injury stuff,” Dana White admitted to MMA Junkie earlie this year.
“We’ve been invested in this [Lou] Ruvo Center [at the Cleveland Clinic] to try and figure out more.”
“But listen, he’s not the first and he’s definitely not going to be the last,” White said of Fisher.
“This is a contact sport and anybody who’s done this younger, myself included, is dealing with brain issues. It’s part of the gig,” he claimed.
