Russian gymnastics coaching legend Irina Viner-Usmanova has criticized Tokyo 2020 champion Artur Dalaloyan after he disapproved of cars given to the Averina sisters after their disappointment in Japan.
Artistic gymnast Artur Dalaloyan, who scooped team gold in the Japanese capital as part of the first Russian team to achieve the feat in 25 years, said he felt it wasn’t “entirely fair” that Olympic silver medalist Dina Averina and fourth-placed Arina Averina were treated to a BMW X5 for winners and BMW X3 for medalists respectively.
“On the one hand, the girls deserved what they got [their cars],” said Dalaloyan.
“On the other hand, this is not entirely fair in relation to those athletes who, for some reason – due to bad luck, injury or controversial refereeing – did not get into the prize-winners at the Olympics, but remained unnoticed.”
Catching wind of this, Russian gymnastics official Viner-Usmanova has not bitten her tongue.
“There are too many idiots in Russia,” she was quoted as saying.
“I do not want to speak out about the speech of one of them. If the president thinks that giving Dina Averina a car is fair, then why would anyone argue with that?” Viner-Usmanova asked.
The Averina sisters finished were left disappointed in the individual all-round event which was won by Lina Ashram.
Ashram was trolled online by admirers of Dina Averina, who told the attacks to stop.
“I feel bad for Linoy. She didn’t do anything wrong. Stop hounding her,” Averina demanded.
“We’re not guilty of anything – it’s the judges’ business,” she stated.
Viner-Usmanova has played down the debacle in recent weeks.
On the eve of the upcoming World Championships, which Israel and therefore Ashram pulled out of last month in a supposedly unrelated development, she said that she “wasn’t interested at all” regarding Ashram’s absence.
“What kind of revenge are you talking about?” she asked, in a possible reference to what Averina has publicly revealed she wishes to exact at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“Dina Averina was the winner for me and almost the whole world,” Viner-Usmanova scoffed.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was welcomed to Manchester United’s Old Trafford home for their Premier League clash with Everton on Saturday, but the UFC icon’s pal Cristiano Ronaldo will only start the game on the bench.
Football-mad former UFC lightweight king Khabib is making the most of his promotional tour in the UK, taking the time to visit United’s famous stadium as they take on high-flying Everton.
A win for either team will see them move to the top of the table, at least temporarily before the rest of their rivals are in action across the weekend.
United welcomed Khabib to the Theatre of Dreams, sharing an image on their social media accounts of the Russian MMA megastar proudly posing with a United shirt with ‘Khabib 7’ on the back.
However, any hopes that Khabib had of watching United’s actual number 7 start the match were dashed when the teamsheet showed Ronaldo was only among the substitutes.
Many will still fancy the 36-year-old star to feature at some point, not least because of the instant impact he’s had since returning to the club in a shock summer move from Juventus.
Ronaldo has netted five goals in five games thus far, including a dramatic injury-time winner at Old Trafford in the Champions League fixture with Villarreal in midweek.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is mindful of resting Ronaldo for certain games despite the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s form.
“Wednesday was a big effort, big emotional and physical output so needed to freshen it up,”said the Norwegian, explaining his line-up.
“The start of this game is very important, we’ve got big players coming on too, we believe it’s a team that can take charge of the game.”
Khabib and Ronaldo are well-known pals, with the Dagestani phenom previously posing with the footballer during his Real Madrid days and even recently revealing that Ronaldo had given him an inside scoop on his return to United before it was announced in the summer.
After United posted their image of Khabib, 33, on social media, some fans joked they’d like to see the Russian submission specialist take on Solskjaer after the game, with the Norwegian under pressure to deliver silverware with his star-studded squad this season.
“Khabib vs Ole after FT. Who says no?” joked one Twitter user.
“Khabib about to go 1 on 1 with Ole because of this team selection,” said another, miffed at Ronaldo’s absence from the Starting XI.
Jon Jones has again come under fire from MMA fans after he posted a photograph to social media of him kissing his long-term fiancee just days after his arrest for alleged domestic battery and tampering with a police vehicle.
Jones, the former longtime light heavyweight champion, has been no stranger to outside-of-the-cage infractions throughout his record-breaking UFC career, having fallen foul of both the law and the sport’s drug-testing authorities on several occasions throughout his ascent to the summit of the sport.
The 34-year-old was arrested in Las Vegas last week, just hours after he was inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame for his classic UFC 165 scrap with Alexander Gustafsson, after he allegedly pulled his fiancée’s hair and later head-butted a police car.
Police also detailed that Jones’ fiancée and partner of 17 years, Jessie Moses, had a bloody lip – with the mother of Jones’ three children telling cops that the UFC star was a “little” physical with her, but denied that he had struck her.
Las Vegas Police also reported seeing blood on the bed sheets inside their hotel room. Moses did not allow any photographs to be taken of her or consent to a voluntary interview about what had happened.
The police report also indicated that Jones cried when he was charged by police, with officers describing his behavior as “like an emotional rollercoaster“.
But as yet another wave of negative publicity surrounds one of the UFC’s greatest-ever fighters, Jones has taken to social media in a move which appears designed to overshadow the latest accusations against him – and fight fans aren’t buying the image of him kissing Moses along with the text (a quote from a John Legend song): “And I’ll stay with you. Oh I’ll stay with you through the ups and the downs.”
Jones has made a single statement since the arrest, indicating online that he will stop drinking alcohol – something he says that his brain “can’t handle” anymore – but some are seeing this as just the latest in a string of false contrition from the fighter who has been arrested on several occasions in the past, including a 2020 one for DWI and the negligent use of a firearm in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He was also stripped of his world title in 2015 after being involved in a hit-and-run accident during which a pregnant woman’s arm was broken. Jones fled the scene but later surrendered to authorities.
Jones will learn more about what potential punishments he may face at his upcoming court date on October 26, but that reference to John Legend’s song ‘Stay With You’ is an interesting one – because with Jon Jones, there’s been a whole lot more downs than ups lately.
Chess governing body FIDE has faced anger from female players after announcing a major new sponsorship deal for the women’s game with a company that specializes in breast implants.
FIDE issued a carefully-worded PR release towards the end last month trumpeting the deal with Establishment Labs – owner of the Motiva brand which offers breast enlargement services.
“The partnership is the first-ever corporate sponsorship agreement specifically aimed at supporting women’s chess events,” read the FIDE press release.
“The agreement will continue through 2022, a year that has been designated by FIDE as ‘The Year of Women in Chess’.”
However, the announcement soon came under fire from some female players who claimed the deal gave out the wrong impression.
“I wonder what’s the message FIDE wants to convey with this partnership,” one anonymous titled female player told popular chess website Lichess.
“We have a sport where men and women can compete on a level playing field which is also free from sexualized uniforms, and our ‘next great move’ is breast enlargement? That says a lot about FIDE officials’ view of women.”
For our article on FIDE choosing breast implants as a women's events sponsor, we spoke to women in the community. Most asked to speak anonymously fearing the consequences if their name were attached to negative commentary. Read the full article here: https://t.co/Dnz4PBPEXOpic.twitter.com/tCUhUMHtNj
Another female player speaking on condition of anonymity added:“I’ve already seen comments online from people saying that they hope prizes for women’s events will now include breast enlargement.
“I’ve seen jokes citing specific top players’ names as those who could be improved by it. Chess has struggled with sexism in the past, and this has done nothing to help prevent that. Where is FIDE punishing sexist comments, sexist attitudes?”
Another female titled player acknowledged that sponsorship was “hugely important for our game” but added that “FIDE should be more wise with their choice of sponsors, because it affects which message we are sending to the world.”
“I don’t think breast implants is a proper message for our game; chess is a mental game and we care more about our brains than the shape of our body.”
One comment stated: “Shouldn’t chess – a game reliant on brains rather than breasts – be distancing itself from that kind of reductive and misogynistic line of thinking?”
Another concluded a diatribe against the deal by simply branding it “gross.”
In its defense, FIDE told The Guardian that it was “not encouraging plastic surgery, but if an adult freely makes this choice, our organization endorses Motiva, a company that has demonstrated its strong commitment towards women.”
Some also welcomed the move, with women’s international master Sheila Barth Stanford saying: “We desperately need a sponsor. We play for less money than the men, which makes it more difficult to bet on chess. I hope it makes it easier for women to play professionally.”
Fellow international master Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany said: “The main thing is support for chess. For me personally, I am happy if we have any sponsor for women in chess, and as long as it’s not something connected to gender, racism, or drugs, or anything else like that, I would generally support that sponsor.”
Men still vastly outnumber women in the upper echelons of chess, with only 39 women being awarded the accolade of Grandmaster compared to around 1,300 players overall.
However, women’s chess has received a boost in recent years through the likes of smash-hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit as well as through popular female streamers such as Alexandra Botez.
The biggest name in the current game – Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen – admitted last year that: “Chess societies have not been very kind to women and girls over the years. Certainly there needs to be a bit of a change in culture.”
Everton star Andros Townsend was accused of top-level ‘sh*thousery’ as he pulled off Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark ‘Siuu’ celebration after equalizing against the Reds at Old Trafford.
Townsend struck in the 65th minute of Saturday’s Premier League clash, driving into the far corner of David de Gea’s net after an Everton breakaway from a United corner at the other end.
Celebrating the crisp finish, Townsend broke out a replica of Ronaldo’s famous pirouette celebration while holding his arms out by his sides.
United had taken the lead through Anthony Martial just before half-time as the Frenchman blasted in a much-needed finish from a Bruno Fernandes assist.
But United’s sketchy Premier League form continued as Rafa Benitez’s high-flying Everton pressed in the second half, gaining reward through Townsend’s equalizer.
The visitors almost snatched a winner just before the end, but Yerry Mina saw his goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
After the scores finished 1-1, Ronaldo was seen storming off the pitch, barely acknowledging a conciliatory arm around the shoulder from Everton goalscorer Townsend.
