The national mountain bike champion was jailed after being foundguilty of aggravated driving without due care and leaving the sceneof an accident.

Jongewaard, who lost his place on Australia's team for lastyear's Beijing Olympics when charged, appealed the sentence at theSA Court of Criminal Appeal.

The appeal court's three judges on Wednesday unanimouslydismissed his appeal.

Jongewaard was given a two-year jail sentence with a nine-monthnon-parole period after being found guilty in August this year.

He had had been drinking alcohol in the hours before driving acar in 2007 when he struck and seriously injured his formertraining partner, Matthew Rex, who was riding a bike at thetime.

AAP

Beyond just sounding nice, the official nickname for the Olympic power structure also is a spot-on description of the often-cozy relationship between officials who run the Games and companies that profit from them.

The Vancouver 2010 Games aren't immune from that less-than-proud Olympic tradition. In the lucrative field of ticketing and travel, a small group of interconnected Olympic business insiders — all with ties to the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics — plays a powerful role behind the scenes.

At the center of the web is Sead Dizdarevic, whose travel empire stands to profit handsomely from the 2010 Olympics. Dizdarevic, active in the business for 25 years, has a record of backroom deals and cash payments to potential host-city organizers.

The New Jersey man has said that's all in the past. Dizdarevic maintains Jet Set Sport's business dealings all went above board after the Salt Lake bid ...]]> Sports Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:56:37 +0800 /articles/09/1117/197433/MTk3NDMz2VTfVWpJ.html It's a safe bet that few Americans headed north for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics have ever heard of a secretive New Jersey multimillionaire named Sead Dizdarevic.

But he's very well-acquainted with their money.

You can't buy an official ticket to the Games without ringing the cash register for Dizdarevic, a longtime Olympic insider who has spent tens of millions of dollars to become the official "hospitality provider" for February's Games. His exclusive contracts give him a monopoly to sell tickets and hotel packages at steep markups in the United States.

In effect, Dizdarevic is the official ticket scalper for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Working behind the scenes for 25 years, Sead (pronounced "Sid") Dizdarevic has used his powerful personal connections with the Olympic elite to gain a lock on Olympic ticket and travel-package sales in North America, Europe, Australia and other places around the globe.

He stands to make more mo...]]> Sports Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:57:54 +0800 /articles/09/1116/197325/MTk3MzI1WWVLt1qP.html Heather Bailey gave up. After a year spent pursuing tickets to February's Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics through official sources, the Expedia employee from Federal Way will put her dreams of attending a rare close-to-home Olympics in the hands of scalpers.

Jim Jeffreys got lucky — sort of. The Seattle school administrator landed $2,100 worth of Olympic tickets, then struggled to find a way to use them in a city where basic hotels are charging more than $1,000 a night.

Ed Dooley got mad. After scoring four tickets, then giving up on lodging, the retired chief financial officer from Sequim spent the better part of a year writing letters and making angry phone calls about an Olympic ticketing and accommodations system he calls a classic, unregulated monopoly.

Dooley's conclusion: "I think they're a bunch of bandits."

Welcome to the dark side of the Olympic flame. The Games get lofty billing as a celebration of human achievement — an ...]]> Sports Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:02:24 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196165/MTk2MTY1QElwuOpx.html Chief executive Chris Wharton told shareholders on Wednesday the media group expected to deliver a third straight quarter of year-on-year circulation growth for The West Australian newspaper during the December quarter. The company achieved a second straight quarter of circulation growth in September, compared to the corresponding periods last year, for both its Monday-to-Friday editions and Saturday edition. "That's significant," Mr Wharton told the annual general meeting in Perth. "It's the first time in 15 years that consecutive increases (in circulation) have been achieved. "This has not been achieved by discounting paper sales to ramp up circulation. "We have actually reduced the number of discounted papers in the system ... for the past three quarter periods." He said a third consecutive quarter of year-on-y...]]> Sports Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:27:02 +0800 /articles/09/1021/194798/MTk0Nzk43BVPdcU5.html

Olympic champion Liu Zige trimmed 1.6 seconds off the world record in the women's 200-meter butterfly at China's National Games on Wednesday.

Liu was timed in 2 minutes, 1.81 seconds, domestic news agency Xinhua reported. She eclipsed the previous world mark of 2:03.41 set by Australian Jessicah Schipper at the swimming world championships in July.

Liu, who won the same event at the Beijing Olympics last year to clinch China's only swimming gold medal of the games, won Wednesday's race by almost four seconds ahead of Jiao Liuyang, the Olympic silver medalist.

Jenson Button may get all the attention — and the money — but an hour before the lights went green in São Paolo, Beth Tweddle was bouncing and tumbling her way to victory in the floor exercise at the world artistic gymnastics championships. Alas, the television sets in Downing Street were not tuned to BBC Two or else surely the same congratulations that were sent to Brazil would have found their way to the O2 in southeast London.

“I’ve not had a phone call yet from the Prime Minister,” Tweddle said yesterday. “Jenson Button got one, but I haven’t. I’m clearly not important enough.” She was mildly miffed, rather than moaning. Tony Blair didn’t ...]]> Sports Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:17:18 +0800 /articles/09/0930/192725/MTkyNzI13AvFFN55.html The star of the 2004 Athens Games is set to hand in her retirement form to Swimming Australia today. The 25-year-old struggled with motivational problems throughout her career and never reached the same heights following her superb week in Greece five years ago. Henry won the prized 100m freestyle title and anchored Australia to victory in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay in Athens. She also collected three gold medals at world championships and four gold medals at Commonwealth Games. Henry at one stage held the Olympic, world championship and Commonwealth crowns in the 100m freestyle. She missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a pelvic complaint that hampered her preparations before the selection trials. Her retirement does not come as a surprise but along with Libby Trickett's decision to have a break from the sport, it highlights Australia's dwindling sprint stocks. AA...]]> Sports Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:03:55 +0800 /articles/09/0929/192605/MTkyNjA1orXWgoId.html Sports Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:02:07 +0800 /articles/09/0929/192540/MTkyNTQwLZVrAfmq.html Sports Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:02:32 +0800 /articles/09/0921/191678/MTkxNjc4P5SjPVLr.html Jongewaard, 30, was jailed for at least nine months by the South Australian District Court earlier this month after being found guilty of aggravated driving without due care and leaving the scene of an accident. But his lawyer Ian White, on Monday, told the SA Criminal Court of Appeal the two-year head sentence was manifestly excessive and Judge Wayne Chivell erred by not suspending the nine-month non-parole period. Mr White said Judge Chivell had placed too much emphasis on the discretionary element required in sentencing. Questions were also raised as to whether Jongewaard had, in fact, fled the scene of the 2007 accident. Mr White told the court Jongewaard, who was without a mobile telephone at the time of the accident, had "indirectly helped get someone to the scene of the accident swiftly''. Prosecutor Caroline Mealor...]]> Sports Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:43:25 +0800 /articles/09/0921/191652/MTkxNjUyKKOZOCrC.html The conspiracy theorist will want to peg this on officiating.

With WNBA legend Lisa Leslie playing her final season, the script can't end with her exiting in the opening round of the playoffs, right?

The truth is the Storm didn't compensate with any kind of offense, which was more the reason why Seattle's season ended with a 75-64 loss to Los Angeles in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

It's the fifth straight season the Storm has dropped a first-round, best-of-three series. Three of those early exits have been against the Sparks..

The past two times the Storm was without two-time MVP Lauren Jackson, who underwent season-ending right ankle surgery after the Beijing Olympics last season and was out again this postseason, due to stress fractures in her lower back.

In a foul-laden second quarter, the Storm's final field goal was a layup by forward Camille Little with 7:45 remaining to cut Seattle's deficit to 26-19. The Sparks t...]]> Sports Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:59:12 +0800 /articles/09/0911/190714/MTkwNzE0IoczZz3I.html South Australian District Court judge Wayne Chivell declined to suspend the sentence today, saying parliament had increased the penalty for hit-and-run in 2006 to deter people from leaving the scene of the accident where someone had been injured. "Parliament has made it clear that the fundamental duty of a motorist who is involved in a collision is to stop immediately and render such assistance as is possible." The four-time Australian cross country mountain bike champion will serve a minimum of nine months before being eligible for parole. The 30-year-old was last month found guilty of aggravated driving without due care and leaving the scene of an accident in relation to the crash that severely injured 24-year-old Matthew Rex. Mr Rex's brother, Sam, said he was a passenger in Mr Jongewaard's car at the time of the ac...]]> Sports Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:43:32 +0800 /articles/09/0902/189817/MTg5ODE3muZFFCCy.html

The International Equestrian Federation has been advised to create an independent investigation unit to help clean up lingering drug problems in the sport.

The FEI should also review its drug-testing protocols, improve stables security at international events and be more professional by creating paid roles for officials, according to a report published Wednesday.

The governing body commissioned the ethics report from former London Metropolitan Police chief John Stevens, after a series of allegations about the German team's use of illegal drugs and medical treatments on its horses at the Beijing Olympics last year.

Stevens said his proposals would "provide clarity and improve governance and compliance issues."

"Everybody sees this as the biggest kind of change to this sport in its history," Stevens told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"There was an immense willingness to sort this out. It has been a bitter pill to swallow...]]> Sports Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:46:02 +0800 /articles/09/0821/188552/MTg4NTUyzNiFwgMh.html Sports Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:05:13 +0800 /articles/09/0818/188084/MTg4MDg0bTz3JyJA.html Her nickname might be “Tadpole” on the track and field but Jessica Ennis has just become a big fish in the Olympic pond.

With her heptathlon gold medal triumph at the World Championships on Sunday, the Sheffield athlete is set to make the leap from obscurity to Britain’s Olympic pin-up.

Marketing experts predict that the 23-year-old will become a millionaire by the 2012 Games and bookmakers are reporting a surge of bets on her becoming the next BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

“I had a lot of pressure and a lot of expectation from everyone,” said Ennis. “Luckily I was able to control that and deliver and that’s great practice for 2012 and hopefully I can do the same there.”

About all this guy can't do is fly. And by saving his celebration until after the finish line this time, he showed how fast a man really can go on two feet.

The Jamaican shattered the world record again Sunday, running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds at the world championships to turn his much-anticipated race against Tyson Gay into a one-man show.

That was 0.11 seconds faster than the mark he set last year at the Beijing Olympics - the biggest improvement in the 100-meter record since electronic timing began in 1968.

Gay, his closest rival, broke the American mark with his 9.71 performance and still looked like he was jogging - finishing a few big strides behind Bolt in second place.

Bolt's only competition these days is the clock.

And when he's really trying, not hot-dogging it over the line t...]]> Sports Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:16:26 +0800 /articles/09/0808/187093/MTg3MDkzBAT2hC4n.html Sports Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:42:50 +0800 /articles/09/0802/186419/MTg2NDE57vqjWzN7.html But Freddy Mercardo didn't do a single day in jail for his swindle - and he's already back in trouble, with another fitness buff telling cops she was taken for a pricey ride.

Mercardo spun quite a fantasy for members of Equinox, the New York Health & Racquet Club, and Club H Fitness.

He claimed to be a professional cyclist who rode for Ecuador in the Beijing Olympics - while he really grew up in the Bronx and didn't even use a bike to get around town, victims and an acquaintance said.

He talked faster than Lance Armstrong pedals, allegedly taking in one woman who worked as a nanny for wealthy celebrities and stealing thousands from another.

"He said he was training for the Olympics. I had never met an Olympic athlete before. He talked about how he came from a wealthy South American family and was racing in China," said Gretchen Regan, 58, a craniosacral therapist who met him at Equinox.

Regan, a former model, said she ...]]> Sports Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:40:20 +0800 /articles/09/0723/185136/MTg1MTM29ihVj78A.html

Sport's highest court extended doping bans until April 2011 for seven Russian athletes who tampered with urine samples, ensuring they will miss next month's world championships in Berlin.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the IAAF's appeal for longer suspensions for middle-distance runners Olga Yegorova, Tatyana Tomashova, Yelena Soboleva, Yulia Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova, plus field athletes Gulfiya Khanafeyeva and Darya Pishchalnikova.

In its ruling Wednesday, the court said the seven women appeared to have been involved in a "fraudulent manipulation" of their samples.

The International Association of Athletics Federations provisionally suspended the women last July — days before the Beijing Olympics — following an undercover investigation.

Russia's athletics federation angered the world governing body by applying standard 2-year bans backdated to start in spring 2007, when the samples were given. That would have cle...]]> Sports Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:35:31 +0800 /articles/09/0717/184437/MTg0NDM39yRnmAZT.html

The Minnesota Timberwolves cannot do much financially to help Ricky Rubio with a multimillion-dollar buyout of his contract with DKV Joventut in Spain.

So team president David Kahn is heading across the Atlantic to meet with the team personally in hopes of lowering the $6.6 million price tag that has threatened to keep the wunderkind point guard in Europe for at least next season.

Kahn confirmed his plans to travel to Spain in a text message to The Associated Press on Thursday, but declined further comment, including when the trip will take place. It was first reported by YahooSports.com.

Rubio, who was drafted fifth overall by the Timberwolves in June, is still under contract with Joventut for the next two seasons. After helping Spain to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and playing in the Spanish ACB since the tender age of 14, the 18-year-old is ready to test his skills in the NBA.

The one thing holding him back appears to be money. Ru...]]> Sports Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:18:00 +0800 /articles/09/0714/183966/MTgzOTY2QMKQsXca.html Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group has said that it will build north China's largest milk powder factory in Tianjin, marking its first expansion after being hit hard by last year's tainted infant formula scandal. The plant to be located in the city's Binghai new area will initially cost ¥300 million and is expected to earn ¥2 billion when operational. The dairy giant that sponsored the Beijing Olympics netted ¥113.3 million (up 103.6% from a year earlier) from ¥5.1 billion in revenue (up 7.9%) over the first quarter of 2009. It reported an almost ¥1.7 billion loss for 2008.

$1 = ¥6.8

Source: http://www.cs.com.cn/xwzx/05/200907/t20090712_2148013.htm

"I've won the Olympic 10m platform," he said. "I've achieved thehighest there is to achieve in that, and now I want to go beyondthat. Now I am thinking, 'How do I set the bar higher?' I can tryand do it in other events as well. I'm going to try and do it [wingold] in both events [the 10m platform and the springboard]."

On the eve of the Beijing Olympics last year, Mitcham read theautobiography of diving great Greg Louganis, which inspired him tostart pushing his limits. Louganis won back-to-back Olympic titlesin both the springboard and 10m diving events at the 1980 Moscowand 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, a feat Mitcham wants to emulate inLondon in 2012.

...]]> Sports Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:43:42 +0800 /articles/09/0324/179083/MTc5MDgzLibQ8TJZ.html LOS ANGELES — The World Baseball Classic belongs to Japan.

Again.

Mariners standout Ichiro hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, and Japan beat reigning Olympic champion Korea 5-3 Monday night to win its second consecutive WBC title before a boisterous crowd of 54,846 at Dodger Stadium.

Japan won the inaugural tournament three years ago, beating Cuba 10-6 in the final at Petco Park in San Diego.

Korea had tied the score at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Bum Ho Lee's run-scoring single off Japanese closer Yu Darvish (2-1), who got in trouble by issuing one-out walks to Hyun-Soo Kim and Tae Kyun Kim, the 3-4 hitters in the lineup.

Darvish struck out Shin-Soo Choo, a former Mariner, before Lee lined a 1-1 pitch into left field, with pinch runner Jong Wook Lee scoring easily from second.

Ichiro managed to foul off a pitch after it had bounced and lined the eighth pitch of the at-bat from C...]]> Sports Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:12:02 +0800 /articles/09/0319/178577/MTc4NTc3oeU6lFR4.html "The great thing about this is that you won’t otherwise see this level of play in North America," says event producer John Rocha, of Rocha Taner Results.

The Standing Committee of the annual National People's Congress, which approves policies and laws proposed by the ruling Communist Party, said the new law would help ensure food safety "from the production line to dining table."

The law provides for a new monitoring and supervision system, a set of national standards, a recall system and "severe punishment for offenders," the government's official Xinhua news agency reported.

The approval of the law follows "a spate of food scandals," the agency said.

In the biggest recent scandal, two men were sentenced to death and four others to life in prison last month for their involvement in the production of melamine-tainted milk that caused the death of six infants and sickened almost 300,000.

The milk powder scandal was hushed up for several months during last y...]]> Sports Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:00:43 +0800 /articles/09/0211/174005/MTc0MDA1MwaFGxBL.html Sports Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:36:59 +0800 /articles/09/0202/172822/MTcyODIy0dwF7QFm.html Sports Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:30:10 +0800 /articles/09/0114/170734/MTcwNzM0SSjjmC2r.html

"The dogs have the ability to detect the the smell with 100 percent accuracy," Yan Haiqun, vice head of Beijing Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau, was quoted as saying.

"Labrador retrievers are meek and friendly to people. Their noses are enormously accurate."

The dogs, named Weite and Haige and bathed before boarding, manned a flight from the United Arab Emirates on Monday "to sniff every corner where passengers might have passed" after they left the cabin in Beijing, the report said.

It did not explain why they the dogs had to wear shoes.

Sniffing dogs ha...]]> Sports Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:52:36 +0800 /articles/09/0114/170682/MTcwNjgyuqHg5Hzj.html Sports Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:03:48 +0800 /articles/09/0108/169920/MTY5OTIwaS26Q0ip.html Sports Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:37:39 +0800 /articles/09/0104/169479/MTY5NDc52rFMM88Y.html Marin Morrison's dream to compete in the Beijing Olympics preceded her diagnosis of brain cancer in 2005.

It outlived four surgeries and partial paralysis.

It overcame a grim setback four months before the 2008 games that made even her coach wonder if she would make it to China.

The dream was realized in September, when Miss Morrison competed in three events in the Beijing Paralympics, the games for athletes with disabilities.

Miss Morrison, 18, who inspired thousands with her drive and determination, died Friday morning at her family's home in Sammamish.

Her story of perseverance made national news and took her to the White House to meet President Bush.

"Her lifelong dream was to swim in Beijing, and we had to make that happen for her," said her dad, Matt Morrison. "And she made it happen for herself."

A gifted swimmer from early childhood, Miss Morrison was competing at age 6 and besting high-school records as a fresh...]]> Sports Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:30:16 +0800 /articles/09/0103/169385/MTY5Mzg1FsERmtUl.html Sports Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:14:39 +0800 /articles/08/1231/169107/MTY5MTA3NftAVTrR.html TENNIS hero Andy Murray lit up a wet and miserable summer in July, raising hopes there would finally be a homegrown Wimbledon champion.

Murraymania gripped the nation after the Scots star won a place in his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final.

But it was not to be and the British No.1 lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 6-4.

A couple of weeks later Gail Sheridan was cleared for take-off after allegations of stealing miniature bottles of spirits.

The British Airways purser and wife of former MSP Tommy Sheridan had been suspended from her job for several months but a disciplinary committee took less than 10 minutes to reinstate her.

August saw a sensational miscarriage of justice as loner Barry George was cleared of killing TV golden girl Jill Dando.

George walked free following eight years in prison after being falsely accused of shooting the presenter on her doorstep.

Later that month all attention turned...]]> Sports Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:25:34 +0800 /articles/08/1228/168716/MTY4NzE2WlNg0EhL.html THE controversial swimsuit that ignited a record spree beforeand during the Beijing Olympics improved times by 0.3 seconds eachlap, roughly a body length per 100 metres, a coach of one ofAustralia's Olympic swimmers says.

Grant Stoelwinder, who coaches Eamon Sullivan, said swimmingmust roll back the clock on suit technology, such as the Speedo LZRRacer, but admitted such a move could put world records out ofreach for more than a decade.

The sport's governing body FINA has a major dilemma as it triesto rein in the high-tech suits that have assisted in the breakingof more than 100 world marks this year.

Stoelwinder warned that newer suits and the combination ofwearing multiple outfits were handing swimmers even more of an edgethan provided by the Speedo LZR alone.

"The suits do make a difference and now we are getting to apoint where some suits are starting to make a lot more of adifference," he said.

"I don't fool myself for one second...]]> Sports Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:36:51 +0800 /articles/08/1227/168642/MTY4NjQyuFMtDUK7.html David Alexander Smith, the Jamaican entertainment figure whocreated the dance performed by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt tocelebrate his victories, was shot to death at a Kingston bar, localmedia reported.

Radio Jamaica said Smith, popularly known as Ice, was shot andkilled Friday morning at a bar after a brawl with the attackers.Police told the station that robbery was a possible motive, as theattackers reportedly drove off with the dancer's rental car afterthe murder.

Smith's popular Gully Creepa dance move was made famous afterBolt, a triple Olympic champion, broke world records in the 200mfinals at the Beijing Olympics in August. Bolt went on to set a newworld record in the 100m and was part of the Jamaican team that wonthe 4x100m relay.

The island nation has one of the highest murder rates in theworld, with over 1,500 people murdered in 2008, the Inter-AmericanCommission on Human Rights said in early December.

AFP

The International Sailing Federation decided last month tointroduce a women's match racing event for 2012, in modified Elliot6 metre boats in place of the Yngling.

The trio of 28-year-old Sarah Ayton, 31-year-old Sarah Webb and22-year-old Pippa Wilson are considering their options for 2012 inthe remaining women's Olympic classes.

The three said on the Royal Yachting Association's website theywould announce their future plans in the New Year, but ruled outmatch racing in the Elliots.

"Our strengths are definitely in fleet racing and as there's nofleet racing option for three women any longer, that effectivelymeans the end of the line for us as a team," Ayton said.

The three have been an integral part of ...]]> Sports Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:54:33 +0800 /articles/08/1222/167997/MTY3OTk310jj7nIg.html AUSTRALIAN head coach Alan Thompson says he has no qualms with swimming embracing new technology, but says stricter guidelines must be placed on what swimsuits can and can't do.

Last week, Swimming Australia's board decided to follow the stance of other leading nations and ask the sport's governing body, FINA, not to approve any further swimsuits and ban the use of "multi-layer" swimsuits in competition after some competitors at the Beijing Olympics wore as many as three suits to help with buoyancy.

Since February - when Speedo launched their LZR Racer suit, followed quickly by other leading brands - 107 world records have been broken, a statistic some say is embarrassing for the sport.

"I don't think it's embarrassing at all," Thompson said. "You can't keep on saying the suit makes the difference … it can't make a difference 107 times. I don't think anyone in swimming is not wanting to go forward, but there's got to be some limits placed around ...]]> Sports Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:33:31 +0800 /articles/08/1215/167198/MTY3MTk47TWRmpp0.html Sports Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:39:51 +0800 /articles/08/1211/166663/MTY2NjYz2DsnQFQE.html Sports Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:19:26 +0800 /articles/08/1210/166476/MTY2NDc25kjHM69V.html Sports Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:20:15 +0800 /articles/08/1208/166123/MTY2MTIzJx0X8xf1.html
]]> Sports Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:10:07 +0800 /articles/08/1204/165595/MTY1NTk16G8HrnKi.html Sports Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:09:13 +0800 /articles/08/1201/165109/MTY1MTA5Oi6BCe4C.html Sports Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:39:34 +0800 /articles/08/1125/164236/MTY0MjM2UG0LMz3j.html

A Beijing court jailed Xu Na for three years for "using a heretical organisation to undermine the implementation of the law," lawyer Cheng Hai told AFP, referring to Falungong, which was banned in 1999.

"During her trial Xu plead not guilty and cited the freedom of religious belief guaranteed by (China's) constitution," Cheng said.

"We will appeal the verdict."

Xu and her husband, Yu Zhou, were detained at a roadside police check point ahead of the Beijing Olympics when authorities discovered they had material published by Falungong, according to Cheng.

Xu was convicted of possessing and intending to distribute 53 documents and eight computer disks of Falungong material, he said.

Beijing Chongwen district court, where Cheng said the trial took ...]]> Sports Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:58:13 +0800 /articles/08/1125/164150/MTY0MTUw9MkEsdhy.html Sports Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:30:26 +0800 /articles/08/1124/164028/MTY0MDI4VSaS7yte.html The documents, used to clear cyclist Mark French when he was accused of being a drug cheat in 2004, were stolen from a Melbourne office last week, according to a media consultant working for French. The documents contained "explosive and torrid" allegations about drugs in Australian sport and were made confidentially, said media consultant Tess Lawrence who worked for French and his family during his 2004 drugs case. Ms Lawrence said the matter had been reported to police and came during French's ongoing Supreme Court defamation case against radio station Triple M. Triple M's lawyers successfully obtained a subpoena for the material, which Ms Lawrence was fighting. "We painstakingly, forensically accumulated material from sources inside the police, judiciary, Australian Institute of Sport,...]]> Sports Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:17:49 +0800 /articles/08/1124/163951/MTYzOTUx9mcFAGDt.html Sports Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:52:16 +0800 /articles/08/1123/163905/MTYzOTA1rVuDH80s.html
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