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Withdrawals may hurt golf’s future at Olympics: Montgomerie
LONDON: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may reconsider golf ’s place on the programme due to the growing number of big-name withdrawals from the Rio Games,
LONDON: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may reconsider golf ’s place on the programme due to the growing number of big-name withdrawals from the Rio Games, former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has said.
World No 1 Jason Day, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa are among those who have all pulled out from Rio, as golf returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1904.
Fears about the Zika virus have been cited by many as the reason for opting out of Rio, while other golfers have pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.
“Am I worried it might affect golf ’s future in the Olympics? Very much so. First time we’re back in the Olympics since 1904 and we don’t show up,” Montgomerie told British media. “The IOC will have a good look at this and think, ‘ hang on a minute, what’s happened here? We’ve suddenly had to find around 300 new rooms, and we’ve had to build a golf course.”
DOPE BAN HAMMER THROWER QUALIFIES
EUGENE: US hammer thrower Gwen Berry booked her place in the US Olympic team on Wednesday just days after the end of a three-month doping suspension.
Berry, 27, finished second behind Amber Campbell with a throw of 73.09 metres to bag one of the three tickets on the US team to Rio at Hayward Field. Campbell’s winning throw came in at 74.03m while Deanna Price placed third.
PROTESTERS DEMAND OLYMPICS BOYCOTT
RIO DE JANEIRO: Several thousand people clashed with police in Rio, calling for a ‘boycott’ of the Olympic Games less than a month ahead of an event plagued by a financial crisis.
Most of the protesters, who included a radical anarchist group of demonstrators clad in black clothing and wearing face-concealing items, were teachers who have been on strike for three months demanding payment of back wages.
