SPORTS ROUND-UP
GYMNASTICS
Romania’s prime minister yesterday vowed to boycott the Olympic closing ceremony after what he described as “flagrant injustice” to two of the country’s gymnasts. Marcel Ciolacu lashed out at what he said was a “scandalous situation” surrounding Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Voinea, who both finished outside the medals in the women’s floor exercise. Barbosu was initially adjudged to have won bronze and had already unfurled a Romanian flag in celebration. But a dramatic last-ditch appeal on behalf of American gymnast Jordan Chiles increased her difficulty score and pushed Barbosu into fourth and Voinea into fifth. Federation presidentCarmencita Constantin told AFP she would file two complaints to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
ATHLETICS
Newly-crowned Olympic 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei will not defend his 5,000m title in Paris. “I’m so proud of having won Olympic gold in the 10,000m,” said Cheptegei. After discussing with my team, we’ve decided it’s best not to compete in the 5,000m.”
RUGBY UNION
The chief executive of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) is adamant the English governing body has not “sold out” by renaming its Twickenham headquarters the Allianz Stadium in a deal worth more than £100 million. Twickenham has been the home of the England men’s rugby union team for over a hundred years. But from September the 82,000-seater ground will be known officially as the Allianz Stadium following a deal with the Germany-based multinational insurance company.
SURFING
France’s Kauli Vaast won men’s surfing Olympic gold on his Tahitian home waves at Teahupo’o, while the United States’ Caroline Marks claimed gold in the women’s event. Vaast beat Australian silver medallist Jack Robinson to claim France’s first Olympic surfing gold after taking the two best waves of a high-level match. Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil took the men’s bronze, beating out Alonso Correa with a score of 15.54 to the Peruvian’s 12.43
TENNIS
US Open champion Coco Gauff will be the top seed at this week’s WTA Toronto event, a hardcourt tuneup for the year’s last Grand Slam showdown, in New York. The second-ranked American is joined by third-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and sixth-ranked defending champion Jessica Pegula in a field where several top players withdrew following the Paris Olympics. Gauff and the other top-eight seeds received a first-round bye.