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<title> Sports - People's Daily Online </title>
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<title>People's Daily Online</title>
<link>http://english.people.com.cn/</link>
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<description>People's Daily Online</description>
<link>http://english.people.com.cn/90779</link>
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<title><![CDATA[Myanmar to hold mini-marathon, track and field contests in different regions]]></title>
<news_id>7726072</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7726072.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-10 16:14:29</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[YANGON, Feb.10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold the mini-marathons and track and field contests in different regions of Ayeyawady, Yangon and Mandalay, aiming at seeking new generation track and field athletes to take part in the 27th Southeast Asian Games, an official media reported Friday.  The sports events including men's and women's 20-kilometer mini-marathon, 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter races, long jump, shot-put, discus and javelin, which will be held in Ayeyawady region on Feb.14 w ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[YANGON, Feb.10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold the mini-marathons and track and field contests in different regions of Ayeyawady, Yangon and Mandalay, aiming at seeking new generation track and field athletes to take part in the 27th Southeast Asian Games, an official media reported Friday.  The sports events including men's and women's 20-kilometer mini-marathon, 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter races, long jump, shot-put, discus and javelin, which will be held in Ayeyawady region on Feb.14 while in Yangon on March 23 and in Mandalay on March 26 respectively, the New Light of Myanmar said.  Athletes aging between 14 and 20 across the country are eligible to take part in the contests.    ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich banned for 2 years ]]></title>
<news_id>7726069</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7726069.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-10 16:09:52</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[GENEVA, Feb.9 (Xinhua) -- Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for two years on Thursday and stripped of his third-place finish in the 2005 race for blood doping.  "The CAS has ... found Jan Ullrich guilty of a doping offence. As a consequence, Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 22 August 2011. Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after 1 May 2005 until his ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[GENEVA, Feb.9 (Xinhua) -- Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for two years on Thursday and stripped of his third-place finish in the 2005 race for blood doping.  "The CAS has ... found Jan Ullrich guilty of a doping offence. As a consequence, Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 22 August 2011. Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after 1 May 2005 until his retirement (in February 2007) are annulled," CAS said.  The 38-year-old German, who won the Tour de France in 1997 and retired in 2007, will lose his podium finish in the 2005 race, which was won by Lance Armstrong, and his victory in the 2006 Tour de Suisse. Spanish rider Francisco Mancebo moves up from fourth to third in the 2005 Tour.  Ullrich linked up with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes' doping operations "on multiple occasions" and paid him 80,000 euro (about 106,000 U.S. dollars) for his services, the CAS ruling said.  CAS rejected the International Cycling Union's request for a lifetime ban and retroactive ban from 2002 onwards, saying that a doping suspension at the time after being caught for a stimulant did not warrant such a harsh second sanction.  Cycling's governing body appealed to CAS to challenge a decision by Switzerland's Olympic committee to decline responsibility for prosecuting the former Swiss-based rider.  Ullrich won an Olympic gold medal in the road race at the 2000 Sydney Games. He also took silver in the time trial.   ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Internacional grab opening win in Libertadores Cup ]]></title>
<news_id>7726062</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90871/7726062.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-10 16:03:50</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Internacional cruised to a 2-0 victory at home against Peru's Juan Aurich in the opening match of the 2012 Libertadores Cup on Thursday.  Internacional dominated the match with their first goal came in the 23rd minute when Oscar was on the receiving end of a give-and-go with Leandro Damiao, leaving Oscar face to face with keeper Penny. Oscar angled the ball across the goal, driving his shot into the lower right corner of the goal.  Despite missed sereval op ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Internacional cruised to a 2-0 victory at home against Peru's Juan Aurich in the opening match of the 2012 Libertadores Cup on Thursday.  Internacional dominated the match with their first goal came in the 23rd minute when Oscar was on the receiving end of a give-and-go with Leandro Damiao, leaving Oscar face to face with keeper Penny. Oscar angled the ball across the goal, driving his shot into the lower right corner of the goal.  Despite missed sereval opportunities in the second half, Internacional  sealed their victory with another goal in the 89th minute. Taking advantage of a rebound off teammate Joao Paulo's shot on goal, a wide-open Datolo pounded the ball into the net.  Provisionally leading Group A with 3 points, Internacional will return to the continental competition on March 8 against reigning champion Santos.  ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Adriano shows signs of improvement ]]></title>
<news_id>7726051</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90871/7726051.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-10 16:00:12</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- With only five days left before Corinthians head coach Tite has to finalize his list of the 25 players that will participate in the 2012 Libertadores Cup, Adriano showed signs that his physical conditioning has improved on Thursday.  During a training session among reserve players, Adriano scored three goals, causing club president Roberto de Andrade to give the 29-year-old accolades.  According to Andrade, Adriano has greatly improved over the past few wee ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- With only five days left before Corinthians head coach Tite has to finalize his list of the 25 players that will participate in the 2012 Libertadores Cup, Adriano showed signs that his physical conditioning has improved on Thursday.  During a training session among reserve players, Adriano scored three goals, causing club president Roberto de Andrade to give the 29-year-old accolades.  According to Andrade, Adriano has greatly improved over the past few weeks and is close to the level of play that everyone has been waiting for.  Despite the club's physical trainers' comments earlier in the week that putting Adriano into a match is risky and that he would not last more than 45 minutes, Adriano proved them wrong and gave a strong performance during the training. His performance was much better than that of last week when he appeared sluggish and hardly touched the ball during a friendly against the reserve players from Flamengo.  Adriano has professed his intent and desire to participate in the 2012 Libertadores Cup. However, he will have to make a good case for coach Tite who is currently working on narrowing down his roster of 31 players to only 25 that he will carry into the continental tournament.  Tite must hand in his list by February 14, the day before his team's debut in the competition against Deportiva Tachira in Group F.  ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Liu Xiang, Robles set for Birmingham showdown]]></title>
<news_id>7726037</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7726037.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-10 15:53:22</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[LONDON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Dayron Robles will go head-to-head with reigning world indoor champion Liu Xiang of China in a blockbuster 60m hurdles race at the Aviva Grand Prix next Saturday.  It will be the pair's first meeting since the world championships in Daegu last summer, where Liu took silver after Robles was dramatically disqualified for disrupting Liu despite finishing the race in first place.  The pair, who between them have amassed ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[LONDON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Dayron Robles will go head-to-head with reigning world indoor champion Liu Xiang of China in a blockbuster 60m hurdles race at the Aviva Grand Prix next Saturday.  It will be the pair's first meeting since the world championships in Daegu last summer, where Liu took silver after Robles was dramatically disqualified for disrupting Liu despite finishing the race in first place.  The pair, who between them have amassed a staggering 11 major event titles and are considered the all-time greats of sprint hurdles, will join an all-star cast including Asafa Powell, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah in what is expected to be a colossal afternoon at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.  It will also be Liu's first competition in the NIA since he won bronze in the world indoor championships in 2003 at age of 19.  Robles, who set the world record of 12.87 seconds in Ostrava in 2008, won five times in his 12 previous races against Liu. But the 25-year-old Cuban is determined to level the record by the end of March as he will race alongside Liu first in Birmingham and then in Istanbul, where he hopes to usurp the latter as the world indoor champion.  "I feel in really good shape. I haven't competed this year yet so I'm looking forward to getting back on the track," said Robles.  "I will have probably had one race before the Aviva Grand Prix which will give me more of an idea on my form but Birmingham is due to have a good field so it'll be good for me."  ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Dutch top skaters hope for new Elfstedentocht ]]></title>
<news_id>7724905</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7724905.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-09 17:00:23</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[EMMEN, The Netherlands, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch top marathon skaters were participating at the National Championships on natural ice in Emmen on Wednesday, but with their minds they were partly in Friesland, thinking of a possible Elfstedentocht.  A date for the most famous Dutch skating tour over 200 kilometers on frozen canals, rivers and lakes between the eleven historic Frisian cities has not been set yet, but thanks to the lasting frost period, the tour is getting closer. However, th ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[EMMEN, The Netherlands, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch top marathon skaters were participating at the National Championships on natural ice in Emmen on Wednesday, but with their minds they were partly in Friesland, thinking of a possible Elfstedentocht.  A date for the most famous Dutch skating tour over 200 kilometers on frozen canals, rivers and lakes between the eleven historic Frisian cities has not been set yet, but thanks to the lasting frost period, the tour is getting closer. However, the ice on parts of the track is still not thick enough, because to organize the Elfstedentocht and hold all the people the ice has to be 15 centimeters thick.  The tour is not held every year, mostly because not every Dutch winter permits skating on natural ice. The last editions were in 1985, 1986 and 1997.  "Unconsciously I was thinking of it," said Dutch women's champion Yvonne Spigt to Xinhua. "But there are still more races to come. We'll see. If it remains freezing and the ice is thick enough, who knows."  In January Carla Zielman won the alternative Elfstedentocht on the Austrian Weissensee lake. She finished third at the national championships on Wednesday.  "I hope the Elfstedentocht is coming," she said. "I did not expect it to happen this winter, but suddenly it started freezing. In Austria I have proven that I can win a trip over 200km. You need a little luck."  The new Dutch male champion Jorrit Bergsma refused to call himself a favorite for a possible Elfstedentocht.  "I never rode the tour before. It also depends on the quality of the ice and sometimes you even have to walk on skates. If it comes I must be ready," he said.  The last Elfstedentocht was won by Henk Angenent in 1997.   ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Bergsma and Spigt grab Dutch titles on natural ice ]]></title>
<news_id>7724882</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7724882.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-09 16:54:33</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[EMMEN, The Netherlands, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Jorrit Bergsma and Yvonne Spigt captured the Dutch titles marathon skating on natural ice on Wednesday in Emmen.  In the men's race over 100 kilometer 26-year-old Frisian Bergsma escaped from the bunch with 10km remaining and even extended his lead in the final round. He captured his second Dutch title, after his victory in 2010. Simon Schouten took the second place and Rick Smit finished third.  "When I attacked I only thought about riding as hard  ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[EMMEN, The Netherlands, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Jorrit Bergsma and Yvonne Spigt captured the Dutch titles marathon skating on natural ice on Wednesday in Emmen.  In the men's race over 100 kilometer 26-year-old Frisian Bergsma escaped from the bunch with 10km remaining and even extended his lead in the final round. He captured his second Dutch title, after his victory in 2010. Simon Schouten took the second place and Rick Smit finished third.  "When I attacked I only thought about riding as hard as I can", Bergsma told afterwards. "I felt very well and when I got the chance, I took it. This title is different than the one in 2010. This time I was favorite, two years ago I was the coming man."  The women's race was surprisingly won by Yvonne Spigt. The 24-year-old skater from Wervershoof beat all favorites on the Rietplas lake in Emmen. Rixt Meijer finished second and Carla Zielman, the winner of 2009, ended third.  In the exciting race over 70 kilometers about 20 women were in front in the final phase and Meijer jumped away from this group. Spigt caught up with her and after Meijer fell, she went on alone and finished solo. Favorite Foske Tamar van der Wal had to settle for a 13th place.  "This was a very nice victory," said winner Spigt. "It went well. There was much wind and when I was alone, I was just riding as hard as possible. I was still afraid of being overtaken."  Number two Meijer saw her chances evaporate after her fall in the penultimate round. "I'm not sure what caused my fall. I stood up quickly, but the gap was too large to close," she declared.  One man felt a winner anyway, Cees Bijl, the mayor of Emmen. "This is a great event with six hours of live television and thousands of spectators," he said. "Good promotion for Emmen. We are a sports town with not only sports, but also more than 200 clubs. Many children visited the championships, because it is a piece of Dutch culture. It was a great day for Emmen."   ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Botswana Football Association seeks increased funding ]]></title>
<news_id>7724876</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/90867/7724876.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-09 16:51:51</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[FRANCISTOWN, Botswana, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Botswana Football Association (BFA) president David Fani on Wednesday made a passionate plea to the government through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture to consider increasing its annual budget.  Botswana's football governing body is seeking to more than triple its war chest by rising close to three million pula a year channelled into the local game, in order to improve the standard of the sport in the country.  The country, which made its mai ...]]></description>
<full-text><![CDATA[FRANCISTOWN, Botswana, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Botswana Football Association (BFA) president David Fani on Wednesday made a passionate plea to the government through the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture to consider increasing its annual budget.  Botswana's football governing body is seeking to more than triple its war chest by rising close to three million pula a year channelled into the local game, in order to improve the standard of the sport in the country.  The country, which made its maiden appearance at the ongoing 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and got booted at the group stages after losing all their three preliminary matches, is struggling to elevate the game into professionalism.  Fani has attributed The Zebras' (Botswana's senior soccer team) failure to go beyond the group stages at the ongoing AFCON tournament to lack of professional players, who could match their counterparts from countries like Zambia, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.  It is against this background that he has made a passionate plea to the government to consider increasing the annual grant disbursed to the country's football governing body and improve structures. &$ <center><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7724876" class="abl2">【1】 </a><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7724877" class="abl2">【2】 </a></center>&$&$ <center><table border="0" align="center"> <tr><td><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7724877"><img src="/img/2007english/Next.jpg" border="0"></a></td></tr></table></center>&$ ]]></full-text>
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<title><![CDATA[Li Na withdraws from Paris opener with sore back]]></title>
<news_id>7722810</news_id>
<link><![CDATA[ http://english.people.com.cn/90779/7722810.html ]]></link>
<pubDate>2012-02-08 09:00:16</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[&$ <center><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7722810" class="abl2">【1】 </a><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7722818" class="abl2">【2】 </a><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7722819" class="abl2">【3】 </a></center>&$&$ <center><table border="0" align="center"> <tr><td><a href="/cms/template/NewsView.jsp?id=7722818"><img src="/img/2007english/Next.jpg" border="0"></a></td></tr></table></center>&$                                                                        ...]]></description>
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