A gang of thieves who allegedly stole a Russian Olympic champion’s medals in a calculated raid on her home have reportedly returned them less than two weeks later alongside an apology and a box of chocolates.
Burglars are said to have attacked tennis hero Elena Vesnina’s home last month, making off with her gold doubles medal from the Rio 2016 Games and the mixed doubles silver she won in Tokyo this summer among their haul.
The intruders allegedly scaled a fence in broad daylight and swiped the precious honors while the former world doubles number one and husband Pavel Tabunstov had gone out for dinner.
Now the heartbreaking incident appears to have had a happier ending. According to kp.ru, a police source has revealed that the medals have been returned to a checkpoint in the Moscow region where Vesnina lives.
Elena #Vesnina's medals, both gold and silver, were stolen from her house when she and her husband were out for dinner. She said she didn't put medals into a safe because she showed them to kids in a tennis club. But the safe was cracked and some jewelry were stolen as well. pic.twitter.com/bYBp84w6FX
“Together with the medals, they also left a box of chocolates,” the source is said to have added.
“They also put in a note of apology. But I did not see it – I cannot say what the content was.”
Vesnina responded: “I can’t confirm anything yet. Investigators are busy. I haven’t received anything yet.”
The 35-year-old, who took time out from tennis to give birth to a daughter in 2018, is said to have not kept the medals locked up because she had taken them out to show to children on a visit to a clinic.
“The robbers broke down the door, knocked down the security cameras, broke into the safe, stole jewelry and grabbed the bag with my medals,” she told the outlet at the time.
“Nobody was hurt. We were not at home. I wrote a statement for the police.”
Elena Vesnina with Ekaterina Makarova with their gold medals from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio! pic.twitter.com/JuiqsYKMmZ
Vesnina made an impressive return to tennis this year after more than two years away from the professional sport, reaching the final of the French Open alongside fellow Russian star Aslan Karatsev.
Partnering Veronika Kudermetova, she had two match points to win the doubles title despite being in an unseeded pairing, ultimately suffering a narrow defeat to third seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens.
Kudermetova was her partner again at the Tokyo Olympics, where they lost in the semifinals to eventual gold medalists Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova on their way to finishing fourth.
Vesnina and Karatsev were then edged out in an epic all-Russian final in the mixed doubles, failing to convert a match point in a third set super-tie break against Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
A basketball star has had his request to skip receiving a Covid-19 vaccine for religious reasons denied by NBA chiefs, forcing him to miss his team’s home games in San Francisco until he receives an inoculation.
Due to various Covid-19 restrictions in place in New York and San Francisco, players from the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets and the Golden State Warriors are required to be fully vaccinated in order to gain clearance to play in their home stadiums unless they are granted exemptions for religious or medical reasons.
Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins, the 26-year-old first pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, had applied for a religious exemption – but that has been flatly denied by league chiefs. Details on the specifics of Wiggins’ request haven’t yet been made public.
“The NBA has reviewed and denied Andrew Wiggins’ request for religious exemption from the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s order requiring Covid-19 vaccination for all participants age 12 and older at large indoor events,” a statement said.
The NBA says it has reviewed and denied Andrew Wiggins’ request for religious exemption from the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s order requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all participants age 12 and older at large indoor events.
“Wiggins will not be able to play in Warriors home games until he fulfils the city’s vaccination requirements.”
The San Francisco Department of Public Health, meanwhile, had also made clear that vaccine exemptions would only be granted in very specific circumstances.
“Under the current order, if unvaccinated, they cannot enter indoor areas regardless of the reason they are unvaccinated and cannot test out of this requirement even if they have a medical or religious exemption,” they said in a statement to the media.
Much like in the NFL, the NBA has announced a series of guidelines for unvaccinated players compared to their vaccinated counterparts including daily testing – but players from teams in New York and San Francisco remain subject to greater demands due to local restrictions.
I’m not an anti-vaxxer, but this is gross. A vaccination should be a choice.
The New York Knicks announced this week that 100% of their roster is fully vaccinated, meaning that none of the local restrictions will apply.
Nets general manager Sean Marks also affirmed that he expected his team to be fully vaccinated by the time the league season begins on October 19.
The aggressive vaccine policy doesn’t apply just to players, with the NBA having struck agreements with practically everyone involved in game days, including coaches, referees and stadium staff, to commit to receiving one of the various vaccines available.
It’s a dumb mandate anyway because the visiting team doesn’t need to be vaccinated. People have lost their minds.
this “freedom” is at the expense of others. not getting the vaccine affects others around him more than it does to him. the NBA is a business, and compromising others because you wont get a shot is an objective liability. it's really not that hard.
As ever with the issue of the impact of Covid-19 and its vaccines in sport, the reaction to Wiggins’ religious exemption request being denied has been mixed.
“I’m not an anti-vaxxer, but this is gross. A vaccination should be a choice,” said one.
“Shot selection has always been an issue for Andrew Wiggins,” joked another.
“It’s a dumb mandate anyway because the visiting team doesn’t need to be vaccinated. People have lost their minds,” added a third.
A dramatic tornado has been captured over Sochi in a video from a motorway – with freak weather conditions threatening Formula One qualifying as champion Lewis Hamilton skipped down the track under an umbrella.
Torrential rain has lashed the region as the Russian Grand Prix weekend attempts to continue, leaving organizers with an anxious wait to discover whether qualifying can go ahead on Saturday after a practice session was scrapped.
Those hopes took another blow as a tornado was filmed from a car, compounding fears that were raised by the sight of thunder and lightning at the track that have led to this weekend’s Formula Two opener being postponed.
“This is crazy,” said Briton Hamilton, who is likely to be keener than most to make sure the race goes smoothly after his Mercedes team dominated the sessions on Friday.
Hamilton then skipped up the track and leapt into the air under an umbrella as he cheerily targets overtaking standings leader Max Verstappen on a track that is looking a safe bet to be somewhat slick ahead of Sunday’s race.
“If qualifying isn’t able to happen today, as we’ve seen a few times before in the past, then we will re-do a program and hold qualifying on Sunday morning,” said FIA Race Director Michael Masi.
That could mean move the session, which is due to take place at 3pm local time, to Sunday morning if the extreme weather persists.
The first Formula 3 race was moved to Friday evening because of the conditions, with Norwegian Dennis Hauger being crowned champion.
“In the interest of safety, [the decision has been taken] to modify the Official Program by canceling Free Practice Session 3 due to Force Majeure,” an announcement from the race stewards said about the practice, which had been scheduled for midday.
“For the purposes of the regulations and associated time limits, Free Practice Session 3 will be considered as having taken place, except where otherwise advised by the Race Director.”
There appeared to be a glimpse of sun in Sochi as the afternoon unfolded. “As we can see already this morning, the weather’s gone up and down like a yoyo, and the intensity of the rain has been increasing, with some thunder also joining us,” Masi had said earlier.
“But effectively, the procedure today will be that we will aim to start all sessions, get everything ready from an operational perspective and then judge the conditions at the time.
“The priority from today’s perspective is obviously Formula 1 qualifying this afternoon.”
Masi called the move to switch the Formula Three race “absolutely the right decision”.
“It was torrential at the time we would have been having the F3 race. So we did that and now we’ll just sort of look at the day ahead and just take it step by step.”
UFC president Dana White says that superstar fighter Jon Jones has a lot of ‘demons’ after the former light heavyweight champion was arrested in Las Vegas on charges of ‘misdemeanour battery domestic violence’.
Jones was detained by police in Las Vegas at 5:45am local time – just hours after he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his classic UFC 165 fight opposite Alexander Gustafsson – and will appear before a court in Sin City early on Saturday.
It is the latest legal turmoil facing one of mixed martial arts’ most dominant champions, and comes after he was arrested last year for driving while intoxicated and the negligent use of a firearm.
The 34-year-old was also arrested in 2015 after a hit-and-run incident which left a pregnant woman with a broken arm. Jones subsequently fled the scene but surrendered to authorities several hours later – with the UFC stripping Jones of his light heavyweight title as a result.
Warning: video contains swearing
Jon Jones says he and Dana White are in a good place lately, and that he believes a deal will be struck for him to fight at heavyweight next year. pic.twitter.com/JgsifttEfC
Reacting to the latest legal issues facing one of his biggest stars, White said that he is no longer surprised when he is alerted to Jones’ transgressions.
“It’s like… it’s not even shocking anymore,” White said. “When we bring him here, it’s almost expected.
“You can’t even get him in Las Vegas for less than 12 hours to induct him into the Hall of Fame. It’s a problem.
“Here we are again.”
“You can't even get him in Las Vegas for less than 12 hours…”
Dana White reacts to the news of Jon Jones' arrest just hours after he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/qokM50mPyF
“This guy’s got a lot of demons, man. A lot of demons. Is it really shocking anymore? It’s really not.
“It’s become not shocking. It’s almost like, ‘Uh oh, this guy is in Vegas, what’s gonna happen today?’
“You want to hope that the guy is better and that won’t be the case, but he proves that every time he comes to this town that he can’t handle this place.”
Jones, who hasn’t fought in the UFC since February of last year, spoke to the media hours before his arrest and, in comments which seem to have tempted fate somewhat, he said that he would have to start doing some “legally controversial sh*t” in order to boost his ability to sell pay-per-views.
“Dana, he guaranteed that he would give me an increase [in pay] in my next fight,” Jones told the media of the specifics of his return which he said will take place at heavyweight in the second quarter of 2022.
“So I’m really excited about that. I think it’s going to be pay-per-view based, so I’m going to have to work for the money I get – I’m going to have to sell the fight.
“I think that’s something I haven’t been good at in the past. Look at guys like [Conor] McGregor who just talks so much sh*t and he’s so good at it. He’s so good at marketing himself.
“I have just always focused on winning and I think when I come back as a heavyweight I’ll try and do more legally controversial sh*t so that I can sell a little more pay-per-views.”
Judging by Jones’ latest legal infraction, though, it appears that one of the best fighters in MMA history still has a little work to do in that regard.
The brother of an Afghanistan footballer who was “crushed like a bug” when he tried to cling to a plane leaving Kabul has demanded a government investigation, claiming US troops treated people “like animals”.
Youth international Zaki Anwari was crushed in the wheels of a USAF Boeing C-17 when he tried to hold on to one of the last flights leaving his country after the Taliban regained power, with his remains later said to have been found in a wheel well.
The 17-year-old’s brother, Haji Ahmed Zakaria, has revealed that Anwari’s family were debating whether to send one of their younger brothers, Nazir Khan, to attempt evacuation while the absent footballer took it upon himself to head to the Karzai International Airport, where the departing US forces had been flying people out.
“His mother called him, demanding him to return home immediately,” Zakaria told Ren TV, explaining that Anwari felt he was taking one of the only chances left to escape. “After that, he hung up.”
While the city descended into a state Zakaria described as chaos, the family received another call from Anwari’s phone 15 minutes later, picking up to hear a stranger telling them the young man was dead.
“We went to the airport, gathered friends – the whole family searched for Zaki’s body until the evening,” said Zakaria of the fruitless bid to find his dead brother.
“We asked, begged, even hid in ambulances and asked [the Americans] to take us [to his remains], but even doctors were not allowed there. We found Zaki’s body two days later.”
Zakaria accused US personnel at the airport of producing scenes that were even more traumatic than those taking place across the rest of the city.
“They crushed him like a bug. They treated the rest like animals,” he claimed. “They shot at the crowd. Why? They didn’t even want to drive anyone away, they were just having fun.
“We want Washington to conduct an investigation so that those soldiers who, as they said in our news, showed negligence, are brought to justice.
“How could they allow the death of people so that they fell from the plane? They fell off the chassis. I cannot forgive this from the Americans. I want justice. Nobody should lose relatives as we lost Zaki.”
Anwari was a high school graduate whose dream was to play for his senior national side and compete against players from other countires.
The family had planned to leave Afghanistan in order to help him chase that ambition, and they have now moved home in an attempt to ease their grief.
“In the new house there is not a single thing connected with him,” Zakaria said of his family’s approach. “Because when they see something that belongs to him, they start crying.”
