Sports

Olympics-Speed skating-Canadian ice maker denies pressure from Dutch

Published

3 years ago

February 9, 2022

The Canadian ice maker for the National Speed Skating Oval at the Beijing Olympics denied on Wednesday a media report suggesting the Dutch team was leaning on him to make conditions favourable for their skaters.

A website in the Netherlands quoted Dutch team scientist Sander van Ginkel last weekend as saying he shared tests and measurements with ice maker Mark Messer.

“By showing how I came up with my measurements, I hope to convince Messer and his people of my ideas. What I mainly try to do is to give them new information. For example, he now knows that the ice temperature is slightly above zero just after a resurfacing break,” Van Ginkel was quoted as saying.

“Messer understands that I share things like this with him because our team can benefit from it when the conditions are optimal … Look, ultimate responsibility for the ice remains with Messer at all times. By naming things and continuing to insist on adjustments that are in our favour, we can achieve something more.”

At his hotel in Beijing, Messer told Reuters it was totally false to infer he was bowing to pressure. The article showed pictures of Van Ginkel talking to him and testing the rink.

“The actual conversation that goes with that picture is me telling him not to come back, because I’m not going to tell him anything that I’m not going to tell every other country. But they have twisted this around,” said Messer.

“It’s my reputation on the line … I’m very upset with this story and the way it’s developed,” added the ice maker, who is based at the Calgary Olympics Oval and has worked at six Olympics.

FAIR PLAY

The Netherlands has traditionally dominated the sport, winning the highest total number of medals in speed skating with 121 medals overall and 42 gold medals.

Sweden’s 5,000 metres speed skating gold medallist Nils van der Poel said that results would be called into question if fair play had been abused.

“Either they (the Dutch skating association) are actually trying to make the ice beneficial for the Dutch skaters, that’s an abomination … Or they are writing an article, releasing it on the day of the start of the Olympics, because they want to conduct a psychological operation towards the other skaters.”

The technical director of the Dutch skating association Remy de Wit said his team believed in fair play and he did not think their scientist had any influence over the ice.

“Our scientist is here to make sure we have the right knowledge about the ice that has been made by the ice-makers,” he said.

“I can understand that the words (in the article) could be interpreted in an unlucky way. They could have been chosen differently. I am not responsible for what’s written in those articles.”

When asked for comment from van Ginkel, the Dutch team said in a statement that he measures the ice temperature and climate at every tournament and had spoken “in general with the ice masters in Beijing about all topics concerning the climate in the oval. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“We all love to hold skating competitions under the best circumstances, equal for all competitors: a level playing field. This is what the conversations were about. But if this mutual interest of ice specialists has led to inconvenience at the Swedish team we feel sorry for that,” the statement said.

There was no comment on the matter from Olympics organisers.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart H. Meijer in Amsterdam and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge)

Sports

Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

16 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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Sports

Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

16 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Sports

Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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