Sport magazine - Issue 265

Issue 265 | July 20 2012

Cavendish adlington the brownlee brothers pendleton greene

issue 265, July 20 2012 Radar 11 You are not Bruce Lee

But he was – we take a peek at an impressive new documentary

13 Exhibit A A new exhibition showcases the link between sport and design

14 Inside track Shaun Pollock assesses the current South Africa Test side

16 Editor’s letter London 2012: don’t let too many wet blankets spoil the froth oFeatures this coming week

21 London 2012: The Contenders

21 60

46

One week before the Olympics, Sport speaks exclusively to six British athletes going for gold

40 Rory McIlroy

Crisis? What crisis? The young maestro is in phlegmatic mood

44 The Open Championship We select our five most memorable Open Sundays

46 Tim Bresnan

England’s underrated all-rounder doesn’t mind being just that

48 Tour de France

The final weekend, and Bradley Wiggins is looking mighty yellow

extra Time

Cover by Mike Harrison, www.destill.net

11

40

56 Kit For those of you watching the Open who fancy a new driver

58 Corinne Evans The surfer who teaches other girls to surf. She cooks, too

60 Gadgets Bring the power of the internet into your lounge. Today!

62 Entertainment

Beautifully dark times as Christian Bale’s Batman bids farewell | July 20 2012 | 07

Radar

p13 – The meeting of sport and technology

p13 – Win something signed by Rory McIlroy!

p14 – Shaun Pollock talks Test cricket

Bruce almighty New Bruce Lee doc separates man from myth

O

ne-inch punches! Two-finger pressups! Three-minute beatdowns of fleeing rivals! Impressively thorough new documentary I Am Bruce Lee covers all aspects of the martial arts superstar’s life and legacy, from his beginning as a child actor in Hong Kong (he was the Macaulay Culkin of his day) to street brawler to pop culture icon.

Interspersing clips from Lee’s films, kung fu demonstrations and interviews (he’s a hugely charismatic talker) are a diverse range of talking heads. His widow and daughter take

centre stage, but – on a sporting level – it’s good to hear UFC boss Dana White on how Lee’s method of cherry-picking the best of different styles marked the start of MMA, while Manny Pacquiao, Jon Jones and other prize fighters talk about their admiration for Lee. The rest are a mixed bag (Mickey Rourke is surprisingly insightful; the tool from The Black Eyed Peas can do one), but it’s snappy, varied and even quite emotional at the end. A direct hit.

I Am Bruce Lee is in selected cinemas from today (and out on DVD or Blu-ray on Monday)

| July 20 2012 | 11

Radar

Blueprint for W success

hether it’s carbon-fibre javelins, Neoprene swimsuits or Formula 1 cars with more technology in them than your average Death Star, sport and cutting-edge design are inextricably linked these days. This is a world explored in Designed to Win, a new exhibition at London’s Design Museum and in partnership with Oakley, which opens next week.

Sport is media partner for the exhibition, where you can take a glimpse at everything from a 1992 Lotus Olympic ‘superbike’ to the

designs that have gone into making the London 2012 stadia. The exhibition also covers instances in which sporting bodies have intervened to limit the effects of ‘technological doping’ (where new equipment is deemed to give athletes an unfair advantage), raising the issue of where human ability stops and the contest between designers, scientists and engineers begins. Challenging stuff.

From July 25 to November 18, designmuseum.org

Miles of steel cable from which the London 2012 Velodrome roof is made – laid out in a line, that’s twice the height of Mount Everest

he handiest app to have in your sweaty palm this summer is Curly’s Pocket Guide to Sports. It offers a witty summation of each sport (we like modern pentathlon, described simply as “a pool, a sword, a horse, a track, a gun”), plus an overview of the rules, techniques and a few quirky facts – all in bitesize chunks. In other words, you can become a know-it-all swot on an event just minutes before it begins. Super illustrations, too.

69p via App Store for iPhone and iPad, curlyspocketguide.co.uk

Signed Rory McIlroy game T

here’s probably nothing Rory McIlroy enjoys more than someone calling out and asking for his autograph as he’s about to take a shot (almost as much as Tiger Woods likes flash bulbs going off while he drives). However, if you're not at Royal Lytham this weekend for the Open, there are other – and, indeed, better – ways to grab his signature. Sport has teamed up with EA Sports to give you the chance to win one of six copies of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, signed by Mr McIlroy.

This is the golf game that, for the first time, you can play using your whole body with Kinect for Xbox 360. Add in voice-operated controls and the chance to challenge the world’s greatest players, and you have the most authentic golf video game ever. To be in with a chance of winning, email us at competitions@ sport-magazine. co.uk with ‘Rory’ in the subject line and state whether you want an Xbox 360 or PS3 copy.

Easier than sinking a five-inch tiddler.

| July 20 2012 | 13

Hopkins Architects

Pocket athletics

T

Radar

3

AB De Villiers’ position in the ICC Test batting rankings

72.2

International dismissals by Mark Boucher (retired) – a world record

Graeme Smith’s Test average in England before this series

23.18

Test bowling average of Dale Steyn

Legendary all-rounder Shaun Pollock gives us a South Africa team lowdown. Today is day two of the first Test against England

“No sign of Jacques Kallis slowing down, I’m afraid – for England! There have been a few more noughts in his current form than we’re used to seeing, but he’s backed that up by getting hundreds, so I think Jacques is as good as ever. He’ll also be very motivated because his close mate is not there. I’m sure he’d love to dedicate a hundred or two to Mark Boucher during the series.”

Mark Boucher’s injury “It’s very sad. He’s been a wonderful player and it looked perfectly set out for him to have three more Tests, have his 150th Test at Lord’s, and then he was going to retire. It’s a real shock for him and for the South African team. However, I know Bouch is a guy who dealt with adversity on the field really well.

The guys will be so determined to play well in this series in order to attribute it to Mark.”

Philander phenomenon “Vernon Philander really has started his Test career on fire. His record is basically second to none in the history of the game for players in their first seven Test matches [51 wickets]. It’s not really his pace; it’s that he bowls really straight, wicket to wicket, and he gets the ball to move quite late. It almost seems like it’s going too straight, then – once it pitches – it just nips away.”

AB’s burden “Wicketkeeping might be a bit of a burden for AB De Villiers, as I’m sure he has his focus set on becoming the number one Test batsman in the world. Also, you can’t substitute Mark’s experience overnight. On his first tour in ‘98, Bouch realised how difficult wicketkeeping in England can be. So it will be a challenge for De Villiers, there’s no doubt about that.”

14 | July 20 2012 |

Bowling balance “The bowling balance is really good. You’ve got Dale Steyn, who can move the ball at 150 clicks [kilometres per hour], so that speaks for itself. He’s been a quality bowler for many years and all the praise he gets is well deserved. Morne Morkel is tall, gets bounce and adds a different dimension.

Plus we have Imran Tahir, a wicket-taking spinner – which we haven’t had in the past.”

KP target “Do the bowlers give it a bit more when facing Kevin [Pietersen]? I can imagine that they’d be keen to make a point. I know when I faced a top batsman – if you came across a [Brian] Lara or a [Steve] Waugh – I was always keen to perform. Yes, obviously there’s that South African connection with Kevin; they’d love to see the back of him – but I think they’d like to see the back of him more from the perspective that he’s an important player who can dominate a game for England.”

Series prediction As far as weaknesses in this South Africa team, I don’t think that there are any glaring ones. My biggest worry is that you guys are starting to build arks with all the rain that’s going on! If each of the three Tests goes five full days, I think both of the teams play the kind of attacking cricket where you generally get a result. Give me plenty of sunshine, and I’d say it will be 2-1 to South Africa.”

Shaun Pollock is commentating for Sky Sports during an unrivalled summer of live cricket on TV, online, mobile and tablet devices via Sky Go

Hannah Johnston/Getty Images, Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images

Inside track

Kallis slowdown?

Radar Editor’s letter

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Adrift in a sea of incompetence: but Twenty Twelve isn’t as prophetic as our real mishaps might suggest

Ready as we’ll ever be A whole load of grief surrounds the Olympics, but it will be alright on the night

G Editor-in-chief Simon Caney @simoncaney

4S. Did anyone think that, just a week before the Olympics, a security firm would be its biggest talking point? Yet here we are, drafting in the military to lend a hand.

Not only that, apparently the team bus drivers don’t know the way to the Olympic Village. Some of them, in a scene direct from the comedy Twenty Twelve, took athletes on a four-hour drive around London while trying desperately – and failing – to get the satnav to work.

Oh, and it’s raining. Probably right now. Indeed, just in time for the opening ceremony, there is apparently a very good chance that we may have hailstorms.

And they had to close the M4.

And you can’t get chips in the Olympic Village – or probably anywhere in London by now – unless you buy some fish too.

And David Beckham.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the Olympics are, in fact, the worst thing that have ever happened to this country.

Well, here’s the thing: I don’t think any Olympics, certainly in the modern era, has ever got to the opening ceremony without the odd hitch along the way. Those who were in Athens in 2004 can testify how close that city came to not actually having its stadia finished in time. This is the reality of staging the biggest show on earth – it’s fraught with problems.

But, in seven days’ time, the whole world will look at London. It will probably still be raining, but the Games will start.

And then we can forget the problems and concentrate on the sport. We can rejoice as Brits pile up a huge stack of gold medals. We will be thrilled as Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake lay it down to each other. As Twenty Twelve’s Siobhan would say: “Way to go.”

Day two of the Test series between England and South Africa, and still I wish there had been a way for this to be a five-match series rather than three.

Five games give players a real chance to work each other out – that’s when you see who is great and who is just good. We are lucky to have two very good sides in action, but if we want to really find who’s best they should be given a proper series in which to do it.

Hopefully I am not tempting fate (as mentioned earlier, this magazine went to press a couple of days ago) but Bradley Wiggins should be about to win the Tour de France. It is hard to conceive of how difficult it is to even ride one stage of the Tour, let alone win it. But he has been expertly assisted by a brilliant team, managed by the incomparable David Brailsford. A great many years of planning are coming to fruition.

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Radar Frozen in time

18 | July 20 2012 |

It’s not as if confirmation were needed that Boris Johnson likes to eat. But here it is – a shot of him tucking into tiffin at London’s Olympic Park this week. The most remarkable thing about this moment is not that the giant buffoon is going in without his bib, or indeed his butler, but that he appears to have ordered a portion of dry fish with a dispiriting sludge of beef gravy. It can only be a late addition to the McDonald’s Olympic menu.

| 19

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Tucker’s luck

London 2012: The Contenders week from now, the Games of the XXX Olympiad will open amid a fanfare of festivity, fireworks and, rumour has it, farm animals.

But once the hype subsides and the manure is shovelled away, a select band of athletes will get down to business – charged with delivering Britannia her most significant haul of Olympic medals since 1948. Sport spoke exclusively to six members of said band for whom gold could be the colour at London 2012, starting with one who knows what it is to taste Olympic glory

“Now it feels like we’re on the home straight, you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to get out there and do it” Victoria Pendleton

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIke HARRISON

| 21

London 2012: The Contenders

e are at City Hall, that glass structure on the South Bank where Boris parks his bike, to meet Victoria Pendleton. The Olympic Games loom large. The satellite map of the sprawling city on the bottom floor of the building has had an updated square pasted clumsily over the Stratford area, showing the development of the park – and, looking across to Tower Bridge, you can see five huge rings suspended from the famous landmark.

Poster girl, Beijing gold-medallist, one of Team GB's great Olympic hopes in the Velodrome... Pendleton is any number of things depending on the given situation, but it's clear why sponsors love her. She is friendly and open, and talks enthusiastically in quick sentences that tumble out over one another. She is the opposite of what you expect from such a powerful athlete – of surprisingly slight build, and bubbly and bright where so many others are boring and brooding.

That's not to say there haven't been dark moments among her many successes on the track. Pendleton is an experienced world-class athlete of 31, but only a couple of years ago she admitted to having dreams of being chased by a monster “with a big 2012 written all over it”. Naturally, with the London Games just around the corner, that seemed the place to start our conversation.

W

Chased by London 2012? The logo isn't that bad is it?

"All I said was that I'm somebody who has very vivid dreams. I remember the weirdest details to my dreams, and I did have a lot of dreams about being

22 | July 20 2012 |

chased that particular week. So, working on my own dream analysis, I said: 'Oh, I don't know what it could be, probably 2012.' I didn't actually dream about the actual 2012 logo chasing me!”

You are looking forward to the Games, then?

“Yeah, I am actually. I felt quite intimidated by the whole thing for quite a while, I must admit. When it was two years to go or a year to go or whatever, it seemed like too long to even be excited about something – you know what I mean? You can't be excited about next Christmas the Christmas before – it's a long time! But now it feels like we're on the home straight, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to get out there and do it.”

Did your training programme ramp up the closer the Games got?

“I still trained the same number of sessions, but that for me is two training sessions a day, Monday to Friday, and then Saturday morning. So I have had Saturday afternoons and Sundays [off], but nobody ever wants to do anything at those times – and all I wanted to do was lie down and recover for Monday.”

Is it hard to keep getting up for it every morning?

“Oh it's my job, so I don't see it as hard. I enjoy it.

I genuinely enjoy training more than I enjoy racing – that's the truth. The anxiety and the pressure of performing in a race is hard to deal with, but I do genuinely enjoy going to the gym. That's why I should be a personal trainer, because I could share that joy.”

ondon will be Pendleton’s third Olympic outing – her first eight years ago in Athens ended in tears, as she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in the 200m sprint, while her more experienced cycling teammates collected four medals. It was a very different story four years later in Beijing, as she powered to victory over her long-time rival Anna Meares. Now it's Pendleton who is one of the most experienced members of the team, with younger talent such as Shanaze Reade and her own team sprint partner Jess Varnish coming into the ranks.

L

Do you feel you have something of a mentoring role now you're one of the more experienced members of the team?

“Not really, it's weird – although I do sit back and think I am one of the oldest and probably more experienced athletes there, which is really scary. It felt like I was the youngest in the team for such a long time. When I first started, everyone was older, had won loads of medals already, and then there was me. So it's hard to see myself in a different role.”

What do you think you've learned from your previous two Olympics?

“I think the biggest thing I've learned is from Athens, and the whole negativity of that experience. I went into Beijing thinking: 'I am going to enjoy every aspect of this.' Because you're putting on a Team GB jersey, you're representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games, you know? Sometimes you forget how special that is.

“So I went into Beijing thinking: 'I am so happy to be here, I am so grateful that I'm here and I'm gonna enjoy everything about it.' And that means the atmosphere, speaking to the people – even spending time chatting to the housekeepers and people on the buses, all the volunteers. And it was an amazing experience. I absolutely loved it, and I'm just gonna approach London in the same way. I think if you go in with that mindset, you get a lot more out of it, and I hadn't done that previously. All I was thinking of was my race and only my race – you forget how amazing the whole thing is.”

You've spoken before about standing on the podium in Beijing and not really feeling... “... like I was there? Yeah, I think we're so coached into just thinking about the process of what we're doing, we don't even start to think about the outcome.

Don't think about it. It's a very destructive way to think about the results, because you've got no control over them. So the only thing you think about is the process of doing what you know to get across that line first.

So everything I'd done was about tactics, crossing the line, winning... I hadn't thought one step further than that, which – if it all goes to plan – is obviously the podium. So I got up there and it felt weird. Honestly, I hadn't allowed myself to think about stepping on that podium for one second until it had happened.”

So have you got a podium plan in place for London?

“No, no, no! I'm not thinking about it. Honestly, it's all about crossing that line first. That's all I will plan for.”

Have you set yourself a target?

“I'd like to come back with a medal, at least.

I'm not gonna say what colour, but at least one – that's my minimum. I don't want to say any more than that because I really don't want to jinx it – one medal.”

What do you see as your main event?

“The sprint has always been my most important because it was the only one that was an Olympic event – but now I'd have to say the team sprint for me. I'm really enjoying having the team event, sharing the load a bit – it almost feels like there's less pressure in it. When I go up and race with Jess [Varnish], I know I'm always gonna give everything I've got because I don't want to let her down. Psychologically, it's easy. You don't want to let her down and she doesn't want to let you down.”

How much of an advantage is knowing the Velodrome in London going to be?

“It does vary a lot. The gradients, the transition of the gradients, the height of the banking, all these things can vary massively. The quality of the wood; whether it's hard wood or soft wood and how bumpy it's been laid... it all makes a massive difference on how a track rides. All these things vary from track to track, so your tactics vary and the speed varies – and environmental conditions have a huge effect on your speed as well. So there's lots of variables. It's not like a running track, where the only thing you're really gonna have is wind direction and strength. Knowing the Velodrome is important, and being familiar with what tactics work on that particular velodrome.”

What about competing in front of the home crowd?

“Oh, it's a huge lift when you're in front of a home crowd and they're really giving it 100 per cent. >

“I would like to come back with a medal, at least. I’m not gonna say what colour, but at least one medal – that’s my minimum” | 23

Scott Barbour/Getty Images, Mark Dadswell/Getty Images, Quinn Rooney/Getty Images, Mark Gunter/AFP/Getty Images

Rolling on: Pendleton in Melbourne earlier this year (left) and leading Anna Meares (right) on the same track in the World Championships semi final; the Brit won the dramatic tie (below) and went on to take the gold medal

Jamie Squire/Getty Images, Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

London 2012: The Contenders

“I got up there and it felt weird.

I hadn’t allowed myself to think about stepping on that podium for one second until it happened”

So, what's the next step?

“I'm gonna get married! That will be fun to organise.

I'm gonna go on holiday, without my bike, and then I'm gonna try different things and see what carries me into my next career. I'm looking for new challenges.

I'm not saying this has all been done and it's boring, but I do feel like I've spent a large part of my life perfecting this thing that can't last forever – so I want to move on. I've had a racing licence since 1989 and I've never missed a season. I think I need a break.”

It really does give you a lift, and when it comes down to hundreds or thousandths of a second that could be the difference between winning or losing, so we're lucky to have them on our side. Having recently raced in Australia, you could have heard a pin drop when they announced me. In fact, there was some jeering!

There was a lot of jeering going on when I ran on and I was like: 'Come on! You wait till you get to London!'

I think British fans are better behaved, though – they'll give everyone a little clap.”

R

I

f things go to plan, the individual sprint final at the Velodrome on August 7 will be Pendleton's last professional outing in front of those British fans, having announced her intention to retire after the Olympics. As she talks about her reasons for giving up the sport that has been a huge part of her life since the age of nine, her bright voice drops

to a more serious tone. It's fleeting though, and the enthusiasm returns as she talks through her post-Games plans.

Is there some level on which you're just looking forward to it all being over?

“Yeah, I am. I'm excited about having a normal life, about spending more time with my friends and family, who I've neglected for the past 10 years of my life – probably longer. My sister's just about to have a baby, so I'm gonna be Aunty Vicky, and that is really exciting. Your sporting career takes precedence over everything you do. It comes first before weddings, birthdays, Christmas, anything – it comes first.

I'm not there. I'm never there for my friends and family. But I want to have normal family experiences and memories and things like that. It's really important to me.”

The pedigree It may only be seven years since Victoria Pendleton won her first major international medal – individual sprint gold at the 2005 Track Cycling World Champs in Los Angeles – but she has been part of the international cycling elite for the best part of a decade and will forever be known, alongside the likes of Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, as one of a golden generation of British cyclists.

24 | July 20 2012 |

etirement beckons, but the queen of British track cycling is determined to end on a high. The pressure of elite-level racing has been a constant reality in her life for more than two decades.

But London is on another level. Pendleton is well aware her performances could define her. Make it a success, and she can finally enjoy the break she longs for – a chance to put to rest the anxiety, the nerves, the tears. The Smashing Pumpkins-inspired tattoo on her wrist reads: 'Today is the greatest day I've ever known.' But for Pendleton, it's all about tomorrow.

Amit Katwala @amitkatwala Victoria Pendleton is an ambassador for the Samsung Hope Relay, Samsung’s charity initiative that aims to leave a lasting legacy beyond 2012. To download the app and take part, go to samsung.com/hoperelay

The rivals Now 31, Pendleton heads for London 2012 as the defending Olympic sprint champion and on the back of regaining her world sprint title in Melbourne earlier this year. Her great rival Anna Meares, vanquished in the semi finals in Melbourne, will be desperate for revenge. But Pendleton has repeatedly insisted the Games will be her international swansong – as such, she must start favourite to go out on a high.

Four years on from Beijing, Pendleton faces a significant threat from the woman she beat to win gold there. Anna Meares is three years her junior, but their careers have run parallel for much of the past decade – and, after winning individual sprint bronze in Athens and silver in

Beijing, Meares will want to go one better in London. Victory in Pendleton's back yard would be all the sweeter for the Australian, herself a 10-time world gold-medallist, but she is not the only danger. “I'd also say Gui Shuang of China,” says Pendleton. “You can never underestimate any of the Chinese athletes, but she is particularly special.” Shuang won bronze in Beijing and, at 26, has youth on her side.

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London 2012: The Contenders

“I’m very thankful that I'm fit every day I am – all I want to do is make the most of it” Dai Greene

26 |

Just another hurdle: Greene is heading for the Olympics in rude health and confident mood

I

happy to say he's a lovely guy, but you can't ease off for one person just because he's a nice guy. You have to have a set standard.“ That standard had – until April – been set by the British Olympic Association. Their lifetime Olympic ban on any British athlete caught doping was decried by some as being too harsh, though – and it was ruled as exactly that earlier this year, when the BOA lost their court case with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“I agree, the same rules should be applied to all athletes,“ says Greene. “But we've lowered our standards to come in line with the rest of the world, whereas the rest of the world should have put theirs higher and come into line with us. That's how I feel.“ Greene's views are backed up by many of his fellow Brtish athletes, but not many would apply them so bluntly, and so openly, to one of their own teammates.

“I guess it's a case of me being in a privileged position where what I say gets more coverage,“ he says. “I can bring things to the attention that might help our sport, or when I feel like other athletes feel the same as me.“ From crock to champ Greene shoulders the responsibilities that come with his Team GB star status without flinching. Yet just four years ago he could barely complete a season without his body breaking down – something that prevented him from qualifying for the Beijing Games.

The pedigree There are many who would argue that Ortis Deley was the undoubted star of last summer’s World Athletics Championships in Daegu.

Frankly, they would have a case – but then so would anyone wishing to nominate Dai Greene.

A year on from claiming both European and Commonwealth gold in the 400m hurdles, the then 25-year-old Welshman showed express pace, impeccable technique and a sharp sense

“I'd work really hard in training, but I just didn't seem to get any better and had injuries that were holding me back,“ he recalls. “But it was nice to come through that, and it's made me appreciate the good times now. I'm very thankful that I'm fit every day that I am – all I want to do is make the most of it.

“Missing Beijing was a disappointment, sure, and when you're that age you don’t realise that you'll have to wait four years for the next one. It’s been a long time, trust me – and a lot has happened since then.“ Including winning gold in Daegu, an achievement that catapulted him into the nation's consciousness – but not quite into the good books of his coach, the legendary Malcolm Arnold. Now into his eighth decade, Arnold has led athletes to more than 65 major medals over a career spanning 40 years – so welcoming home a world champion was nothing new.

Green smiles: “He said to me: 'You can do things two ways: you can milk being world number one and try to earn money, or you can be the best in the world for the next five years, make even more money and have a successful career at the end of it – the choice is yours.'“ The Welshman made his choice and, as is his wont, he's sticking to it – with high hopes it will deliver the one title missing from his collection.

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Dai Greene appears in Nike's Make it Count campaign.

Join Nike at nike.com/makeitcount

The rivals of determination to claim gold ahead of a top-class field featuring many of the individuals set to reoppose him at London 2012. His season may have been a slow-burner as he recovered from a winter knee operation, but Greene heads for the Olympics on the back of a personal best 47.84s in Paris a fortnight ago – he is now only 0.02s short of Kriss Akabusi’s longstanding British record.

The Olympic champions from the past three Games – Felix Sanchex (Athens 2004) and Angelo Taylor (Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008) – will be in London this summer, but both are now well into their 30s and will need to improve at least half a second on their season’s bests to

trouble Greene. Shock US trials winner Michael Tinsley shouldn’t be discounted, but there is really only one man the Welshman needs to be worried about. That is Javier Culson, the Puerto Rican who chased Greene home in Daegu last year but who has seen off all competition this time round. The pair head for London as the only two men to have gone under 48 seconds this year: if it goes to form, this is a two-horse race.

| July 20 2012 | 27

Jan Kruger/Getty Images, Andreas Solaro/AFP/GettyImages

t says much for the character of Dai Greene that, despite the fact he's making his Olympic debut as one of Team GB's biggest track medal hopes, UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee recently chose him to captain the home athletics squad at London 2012.

The former Swansea City youth player has fought injury, epilepsy and even endured a stint flipping burgers in McDonald’s to become European, Commonwealth and eventually world champion over the 400m hurdles. But it's more than determination and dedication to a brutal training regime on the hills around Bath that have so impressed Van Commenee.

The quietly spoken Welshman has coupled his rise in status with a rise in his volume levels – figuratively speaking, at least. His strong views on the presence of drugs cheats at the Olympics have been well documented – and when Sport meets him, not long before he's awarded the aforementioned captaincy, it's clear that they're not views he's wiling to water down. For anyone.

“I didn't know Dwain [Chambers] when he had his indiscretions,“ he explains. “But I do know him now.

He's come in for a lot of flak every time he runs and has been isolated in terms of the competitions he can and cannot do, but he still continues to run.

“I have a lot of respect for him for that – but at the same time I still don't think he should be there, the same as the rest of the [former] drugs cheats. I'm

London 2012: The Contenders

“I’ve changed how I’m riding the Tour de France – it’s worth losing that edge to win the Olympics” Mark Cavendish

28 | July 20 2012 |

round four minutes into Sport’s latest interview with Mark Cavendish, he reaches into one of the front pockets of his jeans and pulls out a sock. It's tiny, pale pink and adorned with a delicate frill around the ankle – so we presume it doesn't belong to him.

“It's my daughter's,” he grins, blushing a little.

Delilah Grace Cavendish was born on April 3 this year, and her arrival has had an obvious effect on her old man. “I haven't seen her for a few days,” he explains.

“So I always carry a little thing of hers.”

The Manxman bristles at the idea that becoming a father might have mellowed him as a rider, though – that when he's squeezing himself through gaps that don't exist at speeds Lewis Hamilton wouldn't attempt without a handbrake within reach, he's thinking of anything other than getting over that finish line first. “There's no room for emotion on the bike – whether that's fear or anything else," he says.

“If you're thinking emotively, you're not thinking of what you're doing or calculating what you should do.”

The risks involved are painfully clear, though. With 100 metres to go in the third stage of the Giro D'Italia in May, Cavendish was involved in a 75kph crash that robbed him of an unpleasant amount of skin.

A

“Yeah, there are dangers,” he shrugs. “But you can't let it cross your mind. It’s like when you're driving and there's a corner coming up and you know you have to back off. You could push it, but you know you shouldn't. Well, we don't have that bit in our head that says 'back off'.”

Backing off Cavendish spoke to us just before he headed off to Liege for the start of the Tour de France, which reaches its climax this weekend. It's a race that has brought him much success (and fame) over the past five years.

But he left these shores in the knowledge that this year would be different – for once, winning the prestigious Green Jersey (as top sprinter) was not his priority. With a prediction that has turned out, at the time of writing, to be 100 per cent accurate, he says: “I won't be as successful in the Tour as I have been. I might win a stage, but I won't win five because my sprinting's not...”

Cavendish stopped short of completing that sentence, instead switching his focus to the golden pay-off that he hopes will come six days after the end of the Tour, in the 250km Olympic road race in London: “It's worth it for one year – especially when

the team [Team Sky] is concentrating on the General Classification this year. It's worth losing that edge in the Tour to win the Olympics.”

Four years ago, Cavendish also sacrificed his Tour de France ambitions for the Games, pulling out after Stage 14 to avoid leaving his racing legs behind in the Alps. But the Beijing Velodrome proved to be an unhappy arena, as he could manage only eighth place in the Madison with partner Bradley Wiggins. He was the sole British rider from a squad of 14 to return home without a medal around his neck, so it's easy to understand Cavendish's single-minded approach to London 2012. He clearly has some unfinished business with the Olympics.

“I've changed how I'm riding the Tour to win [the Olympics], so that shows the motivation I have to do well there,” he says. “The Tour de France is like my job. It’s the biggest bike race in the world, I hold a number of records for stage wins there and I want to continue doing it – it’s what my season and my career is about. The Olympics doesn’t really impact on my pro career and it’s not a prestigious event in road cycling, but as a British athlete and as someone who’s proud to put on a jersey that represents the flag I was born under, it’s a big thing. Especially in your home country.” > | 29

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images, Bryn Lennon/Getty Images, Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images

Medal man: Cavendish becomes world road race champion last year (top) and, below, his failed Olympic bid four years ago

“The Olympics doesn’t impact my pro career, but as a British athlete who’s proud to represent the flag I was born under, it’s a big thing” “When I’m driving through London, I know the part through Knightsbridge,“ he says. “I know the traffic islands and how when you come past Harrods it bears right. There’s a traffic island there, then it goes right, down a bit, left, up, right, left on to The Mall and finish.

That’s the last four kilometres. It gets quite narrow at the end, but it comes out into a massive wide opening for the sprint on to The Mall.”

And that’s where the nation will hope to see the familiar sight of Cavendish bursting clear to cross the finish line in first place. An Olympic gold medal

The pedigree Considering all he has achieved as a road cyclist, it now seems almost impossible to believe that Mark Cavendish started his international cycling career on the track – but the two world Madison golds he achieved in 2005 (with Rob Hayles) and 2008 (with Bradley Wiggins) now appear very distant memories.

Still only 27, Cavendish has spent the past five years setting the world of road racing alight

30 | July 20 2012 |

would complete an astonishing 12 months or so for the new father, and finally lay to rest the nightmare of Beijing. But Cavendish will still face one of life's biggest challenges: how to handle the demands of the new woman in his life? “She’s already got me round her little finger,” he says of Delilah Grace. “And I know for a fact she’s gonna have me by the balls when she’s older.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Team Sky signed a new three-year global partnership with Jaguar this year

The rivals – his 21 stage wins in the Tour de France puts him sixth on the all-time list, while 2011 saw him become the first Brit ever to claim the Green Jersey for the Tour’s top sprinter, and the first home rider since Tom Simpson in 1965 to become world road race champion. If Cavendish safely negotiates the remaining stages of the Tour, he will start favourite to claim an historic Olympic gold in next week’s road race.

With Cavendish shifting his focus to the Olympic road race, the young Slovakian Peter Sagan looks most likely to inherit the Tour’s Green Jersey for 2012.

The 22-year-old has shown himself to be a powerful sprinter and will bring momentum with him to London – but,

as Cavendish himself has noted, the Olympic course is more punishing than many of the world’s best sprinters would necessarily like. With that in mind, a more experienced campaigner such as Germany’s Andre Greipel (nicknamed the Gorilla), who took bronze behind Cavendish in the World Championships road race in Copenhagen last summer, may pose a greater threat.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images, Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Devil in the detail Which is why Cavendish is leaving nothing to chance in his bid to win Britain's first gold medal of the Olympics on July 28. The sprinter has always been a stickler for detail. Ask him to describe the final kilometres of his sprint finish to win Stage 2 of the 2009 Tour, and he'll give you a minute-by-minute rundown. Even his clothes bear the hallmarks of a man for whom the fine details really do count – so it’s no surprise to discover that the intricacies of the Olympic road race course are already burned on to the Cavendish brain.

He knows precisely how many times he can ride up Box Hill before the lactic acid starts to eat away at the explosive power in his legs, for a start: “Four.

You’re starting to feel it then, like. And you’ve got to do it another five times after that.”

And when it comes to the final stretch of a route that takes riders over Putney Bridge into Fulham, before heading through Kensington into Westminster and a climax on The Mall, he knows every twist and turn that awaits.

London 2012: The Contenders

“I’m a very simple person – I don’t need to complicate things at all” Rebecca adlington

O

Your life is now very different to the one you had before Beijing. Has the build-up to London been equally different?

“Completely. I mean, it's different because it's a home Games. Everyone keeps trying to compare the two, but I don't want to compare them. This is a completely different thing. Yes, Beijing was an Olympics, but I'm

different now – I'm older and more experienced.

There's no need to compare the two.”

You probably don't want to talk about how you're going into London as a gold medal hopeful, then...

“Everybody keeps wanting to talk about medals and I'm like: 'Hold on, we've not even experienced the journey and the process, and you're already going straight to the outcome.' I really want to enjoy the build-up, the whole process and the excitement, instead of rushing through, hoping it's over and wanting to know the outcome.”

You secured your spot with a [then] world-leading time in the 400m freestyle, and your fastest 800m freestyle since the worlds. Was it the perfect meet?

“Nothing's ever perfect, but I was so pleased with how the week went. My target was just to qualify for the 400m and 800m, so the times were such a bonus.

I didn't have any targets for the times. I didn't know what to expect, so to come away with two solid times gave me a lot of confidence.”

You've admitted you were more nervous before racing to qualify for the 800m freestyle than you were for the 400m. Why do you think that is?

“Just because it was the 800m. The pressure was off because I was already on the team [for the 400m freestyle], but then I didn’t just want to qualify for the 400m. The 800m has always been my event, but it has been hit and miss over the past four years. It means so much to me, but it's so painful as well – you always get nervous before it because you know it will hurt."

The pedigree Four years ago, Rebecca Adlington travelled to Beijing as a largely unknown 19-year-old.

A fortnight or so later, she departed for home shores as the first woman to win Olympic swimming gold for Great Britain since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960, and the first British swimmer to win more than one gold at a single Games since Henry Taylor a century earlier.

Adlington's two golds, a stunning come-from-

When you're in that state before a race, how do you calm yourself down?

“My sports psychologist Simon [Middlemas] just tells me to get on with it, to man up. That's his way of doing it and it works for me. He tells me I'm a simpleton all the time, and that's fine. I'm a very simple person – I don't need to complicate things at all.”

Swimmers have a notoriously heavy training schedule. Does it help to have a boyfriend (Harry Needs, also a swimmer) who understands?

“It's amazing to have someone who understands your lifestyle. It's fine if it gets to 9.30pm and you're knackered, because he'll be like 'yeah, me too'. If you were with someone else it would be different, but it's normal for us. And it's normal for us not to want to go out on the piss at the weekend... we're happy just to go to the cinema. And it's nice getting up with someone, because getting up at 5.15am is not easy.”

Olympics coverage is everywhere now, both good and bad. Do you take any notice of it?

“I don't read the papers, I'm more of a Heat magazine kind of girl. [Laughs] But it's great for swimming and other sports that are getting a bit of coverage.

It's nice when it's positive, too. Everyone in Britain loves a moan, but hopefully they can be positive and supportive and then we can achieve even better results.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Rebecca Adlington is a Speedo-sponsored athlete.

For more information, head to speedo.co.uk

The rivals behind swim in the 400m followed by a dominant display in the 800m, catapulted her into the hearts of the nation – and we have since discovered that her achievements in Beijing were no fluke – she claimed gold (800m) and silver (400m) at last year's World Championships in Shanghai, and arrives in London with a real chance of defending both of her Olympic titles.

Adlington is a second quicker than anyone else in the world over 800m in 2012, her time of 8:18.54 – set at the British Gas Swimming Championships back in March – some way clear of the American Katie Ledecky. Denmark's Lotte Friis, world champion in 2009, is the other most

likely threat over the longer distance, but it is in the shorter 400m that Adlington faces the tougher task. Camille Muffat could only manage bronze in both 200m and 400m freestyle at last year's worlds, but the French swimmer is a second quicker than anyone else in the world this year over 400m – Adlington, a year her senior and with a superior Olympic pedigree, will hope that experience counts in her favour.

| July 20 2012 | 33

Clive Rose/Getty Images for British Gas, Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

ne of the nicest surprises to come out of the Beijing Olympics was Rebecca Adlington. She arrived in China as a relative nobody, with no agent or major sponsor to speak of. But, by the time she left – with two gold medals draped around her neck – she was Britain's most successful swimmer in 100 years.

But after the highs – she was awarded an OBE and presented with her first pair of Jimmy Choo shoes by the mayor of Mansfield, her home town – came the predictable lows. Adlington finished only fourth in her favoured 800m freestyle at the 2009 World Championships, then seventh in the same race at the Europeans a year later. Her confidence wilted.

But with time, training and the never-faltering support of her long-term coach Bill Furniss, Adlington did what all champions do – she bounced back. Two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games preceded a stunning 800m race at the 2011 World Championships, in which Adlington came from behind to snatch gold from defending champ Lotte Friis. Her explosive burst over the final 50 metres proved that behind the bubbly, girl-next-door demeanour lies a steely competitor for whom winning is still everything. And then some.

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London 2012: The Contenders

“Triathlon isn’t about the course – it’s all about what happens in the race” AlistAir And JonAthAn Brownlee

| 35

London 2012: The Contenders

porting siblings are nothing new. It is almost half a decade since the footballing Charltons were part of the England side that won the World Cup. In the 21st century, the Klitschkos rule the boxing ring – and, as witnessed only a fortnight ago, the Williams sisters continue to wreak havoc in women's tennis.

But Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee offer something different. Two brothers who excel at not one, but three athletic disciplines: swimming, cycling and running. Last season, older brother Alistair won the Triathlon World Championships for a second time, while Jonathan picked up podium finishes throughout the year, to finish it as world number two. All seemed set for a dream one-two at London 2012 – until, just six months before the Games, Alistair suffered an Achilles injury that left him wearing a protective boot for a month, and unable to run for even longer.

Like a true champion, however, Alistair is returning to form and fitness at just the right time, winning his comeback race in Kitzbuehel last month. So, can the dynamic duo deliver gold and silver in the Olympic triathlon after all?

S

Does the dream of you both crossing the Olympic finish line together sit well with you?

Alistair: “We can't actually do it, because if you cross the finish line together – and I don't think we ever said that we would – then you get a photo finish, so I definitely think we'll both be racing. And, in the unlikely event that we're one and two, we'll both be sprinting as fast as we can.”

36 | July 20 2012 |

Which of you is the quickest sprinter?

Jonathan: “I'd like to say me, but I'm not 100 per cent sure. We have come down to a sprint once and Alistair won, but that's the only time – so I'm not actually sure. Every sprint is different as well, because if you're more tired going into it then obviously you'll be a bit slower. If it was a one-on-one 100m race between us, I reckon it'd be quite close.”

When you first suffered your Achilles injury, Alistair, did you realise how bad it was?

A: “I didn't think it was very serious straight away.

It was a normal small niggle that got slightly worse, and then it didn't go away. I had a scan and they told me it wasn't very serious, so I rested it some more but it was still there. It wasn't until a little while afterwards that I got told what it actually was – but by that time it had been hanging around for about three weeks. It was frustrating, so it was actually quite a relief to get told what it was.”

With six months to go before the Games, what went through your mind when you found out it was an Achilles tear?

A: “It was an absolute nightmare. The past few years have been terrible for me with injuries, which has been massively frustrating – so I was trying to do everything I could for this year to be different. I just thought how unlucky could I be to get another injury and to get it now? The worst thing is, it's what you do.

I go running and cycling – it's what I do every single day, so when that's suddenly taken away from you it's a nightmare. It was a really, really tough few weeks.”

Did you worry you might be the only Brownlee in the Olympics, Jonathan?

J: “I did start to worry when Al got the scan and said he wasn't going to be able to run for a while. Then people started to talk about it, like they do, and I realised how serious it was. I saw Alistair every day and he was quite positive about it, but then I'd see other people and they'd be less positive. I always knew Alistair was gonna get there in some shape or form, though – he's well proven at coming back from injuries.”

You've raced in Hyde Park before, where the Olympic triathlon will be, so have you made plans for how you'll race the course?

A: “Not at all. We raced on the course once last year, but before that it was a different race – it was in the same venue but on a different course. And triathlon isn't really about the course – it's all about what happens in the race, how the race goes and the tactics people use. So you can't really plan it. It's a waste of time planning it, because so many things can happen in any one race. You just have to make it up as you go along, and react to what goes on around you.”

You finished first and third at the Hyde Park triathlon last year. So, does the course suit you?

A: “If they were designing a course for me, it would be a swim and then a really, really hard, tough hilly bike ride, and a tough hilly run. London couldn't be any further away from that, but I think the mark of a good athlete is someone who can race fairly well on any course. And we've known what the Olympic course is

Leading the way at last year’s world final; Jonathan wins in Madrid (right, top) and at home in Yorkshire (right)

Surely hills would make the whole thing much harder?

A: “If it's a flat ride, though, it can make the bike worthless sometimes. It doesn't take out people who are stronger cyclists and who are therefore stronger all-round triathletes – it can also suit people who can swim and who are good runners. If you put a hard bike in, it actually tests how good you are at triathlon.”

In terms of racing, how close to each other are you?

J: “We're getting closer. I beat Alistair once last year, in Lausanne. But, apart from that, he beat me by miles in pretty much every other race. So there's still a gap there, definitely – Alistair's still stronger than me at all three disciplines.”

What are your thoughts on how or why you've both grown up to be the best in the world at what you do?

A: “I think it's a combination of lots of factors.

Genetics are obviously quite important to allow us to do what we do, which is to be endurance athletes, but also to have the personality types to go out and train hard. I think where we live has had a really important impact, as have our parents. And there's a lot of luck along the way – being in the right place at the right

time, meeting the right people, right swimming clubs, having each other – loads of reasons. The fact that we're both good probably comes down more to our personalities and competitiveness than anything else.”

So, Yorkshire can take some of the credit... is it the rough terrain and freezing temperatures that have made you tougher athletes?

A: “It's not necessarily that it's made us tougher athletes, it's more about the motivation it gives us.

It's a beautiful place with fantastic paths and tracks to run on. It's very inspiring. I think a lot of our motivation to train doesn't come from being better athletes, from going out and trying to get faster every day – it's just because we want to be outside, and be inspired by the surroundings. Training for the sake of training doesn't really motivate me.”

We know you're both top-class athletes, but in what ways do you differ?

J: “Alistair is a bit less intense than me. I like to turn up on time to places, whereas Alistair always turns up late or at the perfect time, as he calls it – which is bang on time. I like to turn up five minutes early, so Alistair is definitely more laid-back than I am.”

A: “And better looking."

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee are BT Ambassadors.

BT is the official communications services partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Visit bt.com/london2012

The pedigree Alistair Brownlee, 24, and his younger brother Jonathan, 22, head for London 2012 as the dominant world forces in men’s triathlon.

They may sit only third (Jonathan) and 21st (Alistair) in the current World Triathlon Series rankings for 2012, but since the start of the 2011 season they have, between them, won eight of the 11 series events held around the world. That run was enough for the pair to sit one and two in the overall series standings for 2011, while Alistair’s stunning comeback victory in Kitzbuehel last month came hot on the heels of his kid brother’s San Diego and Madrid double.

Triathlon is an endurance event that doesn’t always run true to the form book – not least in Beijing four years ago – but it would be a major surprise if at least one of the brothers didn’t feature prominently on the London podium.

The rivals The Russian duo of Alexander Bryukhankov and Dmitry Polyanskiy lead the way in this year’s World Triathlon Series standings, with the Swiss triathlete Sven Riederer – winner of Olympic bronze in Athens eight years ago – trailing Jonathan Brownlee in fourth (though the gap is substantial – Jonathan is within 45 points of Polyanskiy, but 605 points ahead of Riederer. Bryukhankov, however, holds a lead of more than 300 points out in front ). Any of the above could yet throw a spanner in the brothers’ Olympic plans, but their chief threat must surely come from the 29-year-old Javier Gomez. World champion in 2008 and 2010, the Spaniard started as hot favourite for gold in Beijing, but could manage only fourth (with Alistair Brownlee back in 12th). Four years on, he will be desperate to make amends.

| 37

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images, ITU via Getty Images, Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

going to be like for a while now – there are no excuses for not being good on it.”

J: "In terms of the undulation, you can't really change that, but it's a very twisty run, which is good – a lot of triathlons are just straight out and back. There are smaller hills too, so it's an interesting course. But, like Alistair says, the bike is a bit flat, which is a shame.”

Olympic Football

Why EnglanD + WalEs coulD = football golD

Caulker, Micah Richards and James Tomkins – conceded just 136 goals in their combined 125 games last season, and are all coming off successful years that should stand them in good stead. Richards won the Premier League (and brings a wealth of experience at the back), Tomkins returned to the top tier with West Ham (missing only six games all season), Caulker helped Swansea to 11th in the Premier League – including clean sheets against Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle, to name but a few – while Bertrand broke into Chelsea’s first team, picked up two man-of-the-match awards in just seven league games and won the Champions League. Plus none of them have any impending court cases, which always helps.

4. Easy grouP

1. EntEr thE Dragons The Welsh contingent are hungry, and (lazy association alert!) not just for cheese on toast and leeks. Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy have proven themselves time and again at club level, but have never had the chance to compete at an international tournament. Now they'll get that chance, as they fill two of three spots available to over-age players in the 18-man Olympic squad. Giggs, who retired from international football back in 2007, will captain the side and will be itching to make his mark in what will definitely be his last non-Manchester United outing. Both players have undoubted quality and could help drag Team GB's ramshackle band all the way to the podium.

2. PlayEr PromisE Unlike their older counterparts, the majority of the squad haven't been tainted with the

girl PoWEr

Great Britain v Sweden, Wednesday, BBC One 4pm

38 | July 20 2012 |

brush of failure quite so regularly.

Tottenham's Danny Rose was in the U21 squad that reached the final of the 2009 European Championships, and although at the 2011 tournament many of the current squad crashed out at the group stage under Stuart Pearce, we're going to gloss over that for the purposes of our argument. On paper, the first XI actually looks surprisingly strong – maybe a little suspect in the heart of defence, but a midfield of Giggs, Aaron Ramsey, Tom Cleverley (right) and perhaps Scott Sinclair does seem a tasty prospect.

The UAE will be quaking in their boots.

3. you shall not Pass Those 'boring' Spaniards conceded only once en route to Euro 2012 glory, and Team GB will look to build a similar defensive solidity in front of young keeper Jack Butland. Our first choice quartet – Ryan Bertrand, Steven

England Women will make history of their own when they make their bow against New Zealand on Wednesday, in the opening event of the entire Olympics. Coach Hope Powell picked a predominantly English side (Scots Kim Little and Ifeoma Dieke are the only non-English representatives), and after leading her national

formula bustErs Great Britain v Brazil, BBC One 7.45pm And they play Brazil tonight, in fact, in a friendly at Middlesborough's Riverside Stadium. While Team GB will be taking to the pitch together for the first time before their tournament kicks off against Senegal on Thursday, the Brazilian side will know each other very well – their Olympic squad contains several members of the first team proper, from Porto's Hulk and the hotly rated Neymar to AC Milan's Alexandre Pato – who, absurdly, is still only 22. If you're the patriotic type, tune in to watch our brave boys put on the show of their lives for the whole country. If you're not, then tune in anyway – when else are you going to get the chance to watch some world-class South American stars eviscerate a League One youth team?

side to the World Cup quarter finals in Germany last summer, she’s got high hopes of success on home soil. Brazil hold the biggest threat in Team GB’s group, but Arsenal striker Kelly Smith’s availability – after injury nearly ruled her out – is a boost. With an average of 62 caps to their name, this side should feel no fear at all.

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images, adidas via Getty Images

Gareth Bale injured. Stuart Pearce in charge. We’ll admit, the omens aren’t good for Great Britain on the football pitch. But there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic – well, four at least. Namely...

It would be all too easy – and oh so British – to write off Team GB’s opponents as rubbish compared to the boys from the Greatest League in the World™, but we’re going to do it anyway. Alright, the Uruguayans have Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani up top, but the four they conceded to Chile in a warm-up game shows their vulnerability at the back (though they did win the game 6-4).

Elsewhere, UAE’s senior side is ranked only 116 in the FIFA rankings (and we all know how accurate they are) – and Senegal might have beaten Spain in their warm-up, but they finished fourth in their qualifying group and only reached the Games through a playoff.

Newcastle’s decision to block Papiss Cisse’s involvement effectively ended Senegal’s hopes for success – beat Uruguay and Team GB should finish top of their group. After that, it's just Brazil to worry about...

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FIRST TOUCH

Rory McIlroy

FIGHTING BACK As the Open enters its second day, Sport speaks to world number two Rory McIlroy about his girlfriend, those criticisms and a lot of numbers

40 | July 20 2012 |

W

get scrutinised. I've just had a little bit of what Tiger must feel... because he set the bar so high, everyone expects him to play like that all the time.

And he misses a cut, or doesn't play well, and it's like: 'Oh, he's gone, he's never gonna be back.'

And it's still only halfway through the season and he has three wins. Anyone else and it's their best season ever.”

But it is the Wozniacki issue that has attracted the most attention. Last week he posted on Twitter: "Happy Birthday @CaroWozniacki!!!! The best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for!!" So, is he neglecting his game to spend more time with her, as has been suggested?

“Yeah, I know I've been criticised a lot because if I'm not at a tournament, I'm at a tennis tournament," he says. "I'm aware of that. I miss a couple of cuts and it's just: 'Oh he's distracted, he's too busy flying here or there.' Sometimes you feel you can't win.

I know myself I'm putting all I can into my game.

“But if I'm not playing and I have a day or two off, I'm gonna try and spend them with Caroline because

that's what anyone would do. You spend time with the person you want to be with. That's basically what I do. Hey look, people have their opinions...”

He tails off, then breaks into a broad grin: “I'm very happy with everything that's going on in my life.”

EVER THE OPTIMIST It is easy to forget that McIlroy is still only 23. He shot to prominence as an amateur at the 2007 Open, and five years later is something of a tour veteran. In that time, he's learned to take the rough with the smooth.

And, if his form has not been terrific just lately, he has come to realise that it isn't a serious problem.

If anything sums up his glass-half-full nature, it is when he says: “I want to play well all the time, but sometimes you have to realise that you're not gonna do it every week. If you did, it would just be monotonous – just doing the same thing. Sometimes you have to have dips in the middle so you can come up again. If you completely flatlined the whole way, it wouldn't be much fun. The low points are what makes the high ones so great.

“You have to realise that and be realistic. It'd be great to win every week but, as golfers, we lose much more than we win – it's accepting that and figuring out what you deem a successful week.” >

“It’d be great to win every week, but that’s not reality. As golfers, we lose much more often than we win”

Want more?

To see Rory McIlroy take on the EA Sports crossbar challenge with a 2-iron from 150 yards, download our app version of Sport magazine now

| 41

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

ow! Stats!” smiles Rory McIlroy, as Sport unfolds a few pieces of paper in front of him. “You brought me some stats!

I'm impressed...”

Three pages of McIlroy's stats, printed from the PGA Tour website, tell a different story to those who would have us believe the 23-year-old is somehow losing his focus; that he is distracted by his famous, tennis-playing girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki; that he is not spending enough time on the practice range; that his game is going off the rails.

What the stats actually tell us is that, so far in 2012, McIlroy has earned almost $3.2m in the States alone. That he ranks in the top 10 on tour in a host of categories. That nobody has converted more birdie putts. That, actually, this year isn't bad at all.

McIlroy has heard the criticism and it doesn't affect him. “I feel like I've had a good year so far,” he says. “I'm second in the world, second in the Race to Dubai, up there on the PGA Tour. The only person who has made more world ranking points than me this year is Tiger. The past few weeks may not have been particularly great, but you can't judge a player on a few weeks. See it as a whole year. In that way, it has been one of my best.”

That man Tiger crops up more than once in our interview – mainly because, as McIlroy himself says: “The more people think of you, if you don't play well or the way they expect you to play, you're just gonna

“I’m fortunate to know there will be weeks for me each year when it all comes together. And you have to believe that it will” When he plays his best, McIlroy is unbeatable, as he showed in his record-breaking performance at last year's US Open. Few players in history have had as much natural talent, and sometimes everything just clicks to devastating effect. “Yeah, I'm fortunate in that I know there are going to be weeks like that for me every year, when it just all comes together,“ he nods. “You don't really know when it's going to happen, but you have to believe that it will.

“In 2010, it came together at Quail Hollow, when I was 16-under at the weekend. Then last year at the US Open, which was a great week for it all to come together! But I've had a couple of wins since. In Hong Kong last year I didn't feel my best – physically I wasn't very well – and I ground it out and was able to win. At the Honda Classic this year, I won a different way – by getting up and down, holing putts, using my short game. It's learning how to win differently.

“If you're on your game all week, of course you're gonna be up there. But it's about learning how to win when you're not playing your best. Sometimes I find it easy to get in contention – sometimes you just don't feel on top of your game.

“That's what turns a very good player into a great player, like Tiger. A few years ago, when Tiger wasn't playing his best, it was still eight out of 10. That was still better than everyone else. Now his best is still as good as it used to be. But when he's not playing his best, it's a little bit lower. That's the thing – closing the gap between your best and your not-so-good golf.”

42 | July 20 2012 |

FIRM BUT FAIR

Today, McIlroy will venture out for his second round at the Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes. It's a course he likes (though as Sport went to press before the first round, he is allowed to reserve the right to change his opinion if he has opened with an 86) because it is fair. With all great sportsmen, the fewer the variables, the happier they are. It is part of the reason McIlroy loves playing in the US so much – every course is immaculate and most events are played in the sunshine. He received his first ever press criticism last year, when he stormed out of Royal St George's and suggested he might never win an Open Championship. But he talks now about the courses on the rota with reverence.

“I'd always put St Andrews up there as number one because, well, it's St Andrews, isn't it? But then, the others are right up there... Birkdale, Lytham, Troon – all great courses. Muirfield is the only one I've never played.” (He has still not really forgiven Royal St George's: “A bit tricked-up at times.”)

“Lytham is a terrific course. You get rewarded for good golf and punished for bad shots. If you hit it in a fairway bunker, you're not getting to the green.

It really is a very fair course. There are no funny bounces. If you're on your game, you can make a score. But if you're slightly off, it can punish you.

I rate it very highly.”

FANS’ FAVOURITE However he performs at Lytham, McIlroy will be a key component of Europe's Ryder Cup team when they take on the USA at Medinah, Illinois in September.

It's not something that has crossed his mind yet, though. “I don't really look at how the team is shaping up – all I know is I'm on the team, which is nice,” he smiles. “But I haven't thought about it much. The

closer we get, the more I'll think about it. But we have a busy run of tournaments coming up after the Open: Akron, the PGA, the Fedex Cup then straight into Ryder Cup. That's when the hype will start.”

Can he imagine playing without crowd support?

Everywhere in the world he tees up, he receives huge affection from the crowd – not least in the States.

“It'll be different for me, because it'll be the first Ryder Cup I've played there,” he says. “To go there and have the crowd not for me will be something completely different. Obviously in Wales, 99 per cent of the crowd were with us – and, to be honest, I feel in a normal event in the States I get great support.

“It'll be pretty weird to get the other side. I don't know why I get that support... I guess it's a number of things. It's something to do with me being Irish – they all feel they have an Irish connection in some way.

And what happened last year with the Masters and coming back to win the US Open – they love a comeback story. I think they see I enjoy playing over there, and they appreciate that. But the Ryder Cup will be a bit different...”

Then his eyes go back to the pages of stats in front of him, and the inner golf geek reveals himself.

“The stats are great – I look at them a lot,” he says.

“There's no emotion attached to stats. They're just hard, cold numbers that tell you exactly what you're doing. Great detail... look: front nine scoring average, back nine, daily scoring average... I'm pretty good at the weekend, look... proximity to pin, I'm 45th coming out of the rough, so perhaps I should go out and hit from the rough. It's great what you can find out.

“Thanks for bringing them – if I need a bit more confidence, I just need to look at them.”

Simon Caney @simoncaney Rory McIlroy stars in EA SPORTS Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13, out now on Kinect for Xbox and PlayStation 3.

See ea.com/uk/tiger-woods for details

Ben Duffy Photography

Rory McIlroy

Rules of

A player is not deemed to be cheating if between his last round and the next, he lies about his whereabouts, slips down to Urban Golf and enjoys a spot of midweek practice, and shall not be reprimanded by the fossils on the committee for such a deliberate act.

World Number One, Luke Donald, says the new aboutGolf™ simulator will “improve any golf game”. We have twenty. You can use them to practice, play up to 60 different championship courses, or have a lesson with one of our PGA coaches. Using the best equipment to play better isn’t cheating. To book an hour this week, go to www.urbangolf.co.uk or call 020 7248 6800. Urban Golf rules.

The Open Championship

five CLASSiC OPeN SUNDAYS Will this weekend at Royal Lytham and St Annes live up to any of these great Open finishes?

The 1999 Open had been a drab affair, beset by grim weather and thigh-high rough that infuriated players and spectators alike. And then Frenchman Jean van de Velde had something of a breakdown on the final hole, and the greatest ever Open climax was under way. Van de Velde led by three with one hole to play. A double-bogey six would win it.

But instead of playing safe with an iron off the tee, he blazed away with his driver, finishing in the deep rough. His second shot hit the grandstand. His third shot landed in the burn fronting the green. Then came the defining moment of madness, as van de Velde took off his shoes and socks and climbed in after it before deciding better of it and dropping the ball for his fourth shot. His fifth climbed over the water but landed in a bunker. Eventually he was on the green in six and had to hole a gutsy six-foot putt to even force a playoff. He managed it, but by then his head was spinning and Paul Lawrie was eventually crowned the champion.

2

1977, Turnberry

The famous Duel In The Sun was what every Open should be: the two best players in the world going at each other, shot for shot. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus played with each other every day and, incredibly, shot identical three-round scores of 68-70-65. They were miles clear of the field and matched each other shot for shot on the final day. On the 16th tee, Tom turned to Jack and said simply: “This is what it's all about, isn't it?” The pair were finally split on

44 | July 20 2012 |

the last hole – Watson's birdie giving him a final-round 65 to Nicklaus' 66.

3

2

1995, St Andrews

Costantino Rocca may have provided the most memorable image of this Open, falling to his knees in ecstasy after an incredible final-hole putt through the Valley of Sin at St Andrews, but it was Wild Thing John Daly who got his hands on his second major.

His exquisite short game was often underrated, and he dominated Rocca in the playoff. All week Daly showed a deft touch and wonderful imagination that meant his victory was utterly deserved.

4

2000, St Andrews

There was something in the air at St Andrews as Tiger Woods won the first Open of the new millennium. He was eight clear going into the final round, so it was a mere procession, but Woods was on a mission: the Open was the one remaining tournament for his career grand slam.

He also shot the lowest-ever Open score of 19-under, with all four rounds in the 60s.

Old Tom Morris would have approved.

5

4

3

1970, St Andrews

Maybe the most famous missed putt in Open history. Doug Sanders was the culprit, sliding a three-foot putt right of the hole. “There but for the grace of God,” sighed commentating doyen Henry Longhurst. It was still enough to get into a playoff – but, against Jack Nicklaus in his pomp, even the grace of God was not always enough.

5 Credit

Ross Kinnaird /Allsport, Allsport/Getty Images, Stephen Munday/Allsport, Harry How/Allsport, Hulton/Archive/Allsport

1

1999, Carnoustie

Tim Bresnan

mr

46 | July 20 2012 |

South Africa are battling England to be number one in the Test rankings. Does that mean the team are even more fired up than usual for this series?

“Well, it was the same last year when India came over – they were number one and we were number two, except we had to beat them to get to number one in the world. But I tell you what, we just want to win this first Test and we'll see where that takes us.

That's the kind of attitude you've got to have to stay on top.”

The old ‘one game at a time’ mantra, eh?

“Exactly. It's quite dangerous to look at the bigger picture, so we like to keep our aims to small goals and achieving little targets. Just go out there and win the next session.”

Assuming you’re fit and picked, it’ll be your first Test against South Africa. Anyone you’re looking forward to having a bowl at?

“Quite a few of them, actually. There's a lot of good cricketers playing for South Africa that stand out, and one of them is one of my heroes: Jacques Kallis. He's an all-rounder too, so I'm looking forward to bowling at him.

AB De Villiers is also a class act; he's getting a lot of runs at the minute. It would be nice to win those little victories if I can get players like that out.”

Was Kallis (right) someone you watched a lot of as a young cricketer?

“Yeah, he's different to me because he's more of a batsman-bowler, whereas I'm a bowler-batsman. But Jacques Kallis is probably one of the only guys still playing who I was watching from a young age. He's played for such a long time and I have so much respect for what he's done in the game.”

There seems to be a great camaraderie between the England bowlers, but is it difficult with so many quality fast bowlers competing for just three places?

“It helps that we all respect each other so much. The way I look at it is that each of us has a different role. We are each very good on different sorts of surfaces,

Friday England v South Africa: First Test Day 2 | The Oval | Sky Sports 1 10.30am

so when they decide the final XI, it's usually what the management think is going to work on that particular surface – the boys understand that.”

But it still must be frustrating for whoever isn’t in the team.

“I've been there before – I've been the one to miss out. And it is heartbreaking, but you've just got to get on and do whatever you can to get back in that team. If you're dropped, it's not necessarily something that you've done [wrong], it's the squad rotation that we have in place – and we have a team where anyone can come in and do a job. That's good for English cricket. Not just for the team now, but good for the sport moving forward.”

Do you keep an eye on your numbers?

Because right now you have better batting and bowling averages than Freddie Flintoff and Beefy Botham…

“Nah, I don't follow statistics at all. Statistics have a lot of room to be quite untruthful – I don't think it shows the full picture of what you do for the team. Averages can tell part of a story, but they don't tell the whole story.”

You were named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 2012, though. Did that mean a lot?

“Accolades like that are very welcome when they come along – and they don't come along that often. If you look at Wisden, there's some very, very good names in front of me who have won it. It's just nice to be in that sort of bracket. Wisden is a massive honour.”

Even in your winning Wisden profile it describes you as “underrated“. Does it get frustrating to be labelled that a lot?

“Not at all. I think it's better to be labelled as underrated and then to overachieve in the eyes of others, if I'm honest.”

The Wisden profile also described you as having “the air of a man with an emergency cheese sandwich in his back pocket”. Do you have one on you right now?

“Yes. Yes, I do. It's got Branston Pickle on it as well.”

We asked Graeme Swann last week who he’d least and most like to be trapped in a lift with from the team. Who would you go for?

“The worst would be Swanny, because I think he would get panicky. And when he panics, he tends to waffle even more than he does already, if you can even imagine such a thing.

Who's the best person in the team to get stuck in a lift with…? Jimmy Anderson is pretty chilled out, and he probably wouldn't moan too much either. He'd just quietly get grumpier and grumpier.”

Errant elevators aside, what about your favourite teammate to bat with?

“I enjoy batting with Ian Bell. We've had a few good partnerships. Matty Prior is nice to bat with too, because he takes the attack to the opposition and takes the pressure off whoever is at the other end with his scoring rate. But I don't mind batting with anyone – I get on with everyone in the team really well and it's nice to build up different relationships in the middle. Some blokes are quite intense and will be telling you what the bowler is trying to do after every second ball, which is how they stay switched on. I like to stay quite relaxed and just react to each ball.”

Lastly, do you have ambitions to get back into the Twenty20 team before the World Cup in September?

“Definitely, because I love playing Twenty20 cricket. The way it worked out at Trent Bridge for the last England game, I think I was overlooked for a second spinner – so that's nothing to be ashamed of. It's more how the pitch was playing on that particular day. I'm sure I'll get another chance to play – hopefully whatever form of the game I’m playing, I’ll be pushing my case for the World Cup Twenty20 team.”

Alex Reid @theotheralexreid Tim Bresnan is an ambassador for the ASDA Kwik Cricket Competition. ASDA stores have handed out more than £20,000 of healthy food and drink to help more than 700,000 children get healthy and active through cricket: asda.com/kwikcricket

| 47

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images, Hannah Johnston/Getty Images

modesty

England’s Tim Bresnan talks to Sport about cheese sandwiches and facing one of his heroes, as we caught up with him before the start of this summer’s Test series against South Africa

7 Days

JULY HIGHLIGHTS 20-JULY 26 » Formula 1: German Grand Prix » p50 » Horse Racing: King George VI Stakes » p51 » Athletics: Diamond League Monaco » p51 » Cricket: Friends Life T20 Quarters » p52 » Darts: Betfair World Matchplay » p52

OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

Sunday CyCLING | TOUR DE FRANCE: STAGE 20 | RAMBOUILLET – PARIS CHAMPS-ELySEES | ITV4 2PM & BRITISH EUROSPORT 12.30PM

The shortest road stage of the Tour de France, culminating in the now traditional cavalry charge down the iconic Champs-Elysees in Paris, brings to a close an entertaining and at times dramatic renewal of the great race on Sunday. But, if all goes according to the Team

48 | July 20 2012 |

straight sprint victory down the ChampsElysees, you wouldn’t be quick to bet against it.

Nor would you be quick to bet against Cav then doubling up in the Olympic road race just six days later – which in itself could open the floodgates to a deluge of cycling golds for Team GB at London 2012. Sounds like it’s time to let those good times roll.

120

Length, in kilometres, of the 20th and final stage of the 2012 Tour de France. The longest stage of this year’s race was Stage 12, between Saint-Jeande-Maurienne and Annonay/Davezieux: it measured a daunting 226km and was won by another British rider, David Millar

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Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Apres, le deluge?

Sky script, it could also mark the start of a golden few weeks in the history of British cycling.

Well, less golden to begin with, and more yellow. Bradley Wiggins went into the final week of the Tour as the first British rider ever to wear the coveted Yellow Jersey for a seventh time, but with his eyes on a far more momentous record than that. If Wiggins is sporting yellow as he wheels his way into Paris at the weekend (and, at the time of writing, the odds are very much that he will be), he will become the first British winner of an event that goes back a century and more. And we thought we’d had a long wait in the tennis.

If Wiggins is to claim yellow in the General Classification, then it could be made all the sweeter with a Team Sky win in the final stage – and with Mark Cavendish chasing a fourth

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7 Days SundAY FORMULA 1 | GERMAN GRAND PRIX | HOckENHEIMRING | Sky SPORtS F1 1PM

The Nürburgring and Hockenheimring have alternated hosting Germany’s Grand Prix since 2007. This year, it’s the turn of the latter. Sharing the honours seems to work in Germany, though that way of thinking seems to have caught on for the drivers this year, with seven different winners form the season’s first nine races.

Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber (pictured) have emerged as the title frontrunners after they each collected second wins of the season in the previous two outings in Spain and at Silverstone.

They were close to becoming teammates next season, but Australian Webber decided to extend his deal with double constructors champions Red Bull – thus ending the speculation that Lewis Hamilton would be joining Sebastian Vettel there from next year. That’s some sorely needed good news

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50 | July 20 2012 |

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Deutsch drama

for McLaren, who have been having a torrid time of it of late. Hamilton even admitted that he’ll have to improve soon if he’s to have any chance of winning the title – and it looks like all hope is already lost for the beleaguered Jenson Button, who failed to even make it into the second round of qualifying at Silverstone.

It was Alonso, however, who won on German soil the last time it was held at this circuit in 2010 – controversially, after being allowed to pass his teammate Felipe Massa in the closing stages of the race in contravention of the now defunct ban on team orders. The circuit itself isn’t a classic – especially not with its new layout – with very little elevation change throughout. Most of the overtaking interest comes from the hairpin, where it’s difficult to judge the braking distance and easy for drivers to outbrake themselves if put under pressure.

We’re the last to complain that predicting the outcome of any Grand Prix this season is nigh-on impossible. But, on recent form, we’d suggest Ferrari and Red Bull have the best chances of making the podium.

Oh, and Mercedes. And maybe Lotus.

Saturday Horse racing | King george Vi & Queen elizabetH staKes | ascot | bbc tWo 4.35pm

Battle of the big boys Three of the biggest names in flat racing have dominated recent runnings of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes – and they are set to do so once again at Ascot on Saturday, as horses trained

by Aidan O’Brien, John Gosden and Sir Michael Stoute sit at the top of the betting for the 2012 renewal.

The King George sits right at the heart of the flat season, a middle-distance clash that can bring the Classic generation of three-year-olds up against battle-hardened older horses. This year it features only one three-year-old (the Japanese raider Deep Brillante), so the battle of the generations has been replaced by the battle of the master trainers.

O’Brien, Gosden and Stoute have won the past five runnings between them, and the bookies are confident the run will extend to six. The former has St Nicholas Abbey, twice a winner of the Coronation Cup at Epsom but only third in this race last year. Assuming he is over the exertions required to win the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown a fortnight ago, Nathaniel (left) should return to try and repeat the success he achieved for Gosden here 12 months ago; while Stoute will hope to eclipse his rivals with the improving Sea Moon.

Gosden and jockey William Buick have, however, been in astounding form this season – if Nathaniel is fresh and ready to go, he’ll take some beating.

Helly Hansen catwalk

Friday atHletics | samsung DiamonD league: monaco | staDe louis ii | bbc reD button 7pm For European high-jump champ Robbie Grabarz (below), that means a chance to improve on a disappointing show at Crystal Palace, where he could manage only 2.22m in finishing second to Canada’s Derek Drouin. British record holder Holly Bleasdale goes in the women’s pole vault and Martyn Rooney in the men’s 400m, while long-jumper Greg Rutherford will be keen to go well after British teammate Chris Tomlinson produced a season’s best 8.26m in London last week.

More of the same at the Games themselves would do very nicely thanks, chaps.

Next stop London

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images, Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Bearing in mind that the all-singing, all-jumping Diamond League roadshow spent two days at Crystal Palace only a week ago, it might seem strange for any British athlete to bother flying out to Monaco for Friday evening’s Herculis meeting at the Stade Louis II. But that’s exactly what a good number of Team GB stars are doing, no doubt keen to sharpen those competitive edges as much as possible ahead of London 2012.

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| 51

7 Days Wednesday CRiCKET | FRiENDS liFE T20 QuARTER FiNAl: NOTTiNGHAMSHiRE v HAMPSHiRE | TRENT BRiDGE | SKy SPORTS 2 7PM

The poor English relation of the IPL has reached the quarter-final stage, with the four ties taking place across next Tuesday and Wednesday. The pick of the bunch is probably Wednesday evening’s visit of the Hampshire Royals to Trent Bridge to face the Nottinghamshire Outlaws: two fairly evenly matched sides who finished second in the South Division and the North Division respectively.

Both counties were knocked out of last year’s tournament by eventual runners-up Somerset, but both have returned in fine fettle, notching five wins apiece in the group stages. Hampshire, champions in 2010, will look to the batting prowess of 23-year-old Australian Glenn Maxwell, who has had an impressive tournament thus far, averaging 59.33. They could also call upon the services of veteran Aussie Simon Katich (remember him?), who has

belied his relative lack of T20 experience with a tournament average of 41.50.

Notts will be missing big guns Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, both absent on England duty, but they still boast the generously sized talents of all-rounder Samit Patel and Alex Hales (below), a hugely promising 23-year-old who made an astonishing 99 in only his fifth international Twenty20 match recently.

At the other end of the wicket, it’s Dimitri Mascarenhas for Hampshire and Notts’ Andy Carter who should provide the main threat – but with the quality weighted towards the other half of both teams, this match could well be one for the batsmen.

SOMERSET v ESSEx TuESDAy 3.30PM, SKy SPORTS 2 SuSSEx v GlOuCESTERSHiRE TuESDAy 7PM, SKy SPORTS 2 yORKSHiRE v WORCESTERSHiRE WEDNESDAy 3.30PM. SKy SPORTS 2

Power play Darts isn’t just a sport for nicknames and athletes; in these dark, dark days of summer, it’s also one of the few that is guaranteed to actually bloody well beat the weather.

Thus will the World Matchplay get under way beneath the roof of Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom on Saturday evening, with defending champion Phil Taylor seeking a fifth straight title and modest 13th in total. The Power doesn’t actually kick off his defence until Monday evening, when he faces Mervyn ‘The King’ King in what we’re lazily dubbing a grudge match – the pair don’t speak a fat lot after King threw a dart over Taylor’s shoulder as he stooped to pick up one of his own flights during a Premier league match in 2009.

Pick of the action on the tournament’s opening night sees Robert Thornton – who shocked Taylor in the final of last month’s uK Open – attempt another giant-killing against world champion Adrian lewis. But our favourite clash of the first round is scheduled for 8pm on Sunday evening, when Kevin ‘The Artist’ Painter faces former BDO world champion Steve ‘The Bronzed Adonis’ Beaton. What was that we were saying about darts not just being a sport for nicknames and athletes?

BesT OF THe ResT

Friday

AuSSiE RulES AFl: Geelong Cats v Essendon, Etihad Stadium, ESPN 10.30am

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

FOOTBAllNewcastle vFenerbahce, Sonnenseestadion,Ritzing, Austria,ESPN6pm

TENNiS ATP 250 Series: Suisse Open Final, Gstaad, ESPN 10am

RuGBy lEAGuE Super league: Hull v Hull KR, KC Stadium, Sky Sports 2 8pm

RuGBy uNiON JP Morgan Rugby 7s: Pool B, Edgeley Park, ESPN 7.30pm

TRiATHlON Triathlon World Cup, Hamburg, BBC Red Button 5.20pm

RuGBy lEAGuE Super league: Catalan Dragons v St Helens, Stade Gilbert Brutus, Sky Sports 1 7.30pm

FOOTBAll liverpool v Toronto FC, Rogers Centre, Toronto, ESPN 9pm

52 | July 20 2012 |

MOTORSPORT British Superbikes Round 7, Brands Hatch, Eurosport 2 3.35pm MOTORSPORT World Touring Car Championship Rounds 15/16, Autodromo internacional de Curitiba, Brazil, Eurosport 6.45pm

WedneSday BASEBAll MlB: Miami v Atlanta, MarlinsPark, ESPNAmerica5.30pm GOlF Austrian Open Day 1, Atzenbrugg, Sky Sports 1 10am

CRiCKET West indies v New Zealand: First Test Day 1, Antigua, Sky Sports 4 2.55pm

thurSday BASEBAll MlB: Baltimore v Tampa Bay, Oriole Park, ESPN America 5.30pm FOOTBAll Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg, Guangzhou, China, ESPN 1pm

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royal rumble

saTuRday > DARTS | BETFAiR WORlD MATCHPlAy | WiNTER GARDENS, BlACKPOOl | SKy SPORTS 1 7PM

Competition

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Advertising feature

XS Nightclub - Encore at Wynn Las Vegas

the lap of laS VeGaS luxury

T

he brightest lights of Las Vegas will soon shine brighter than ever.

From October 29, British Airways starts flying direct from London Gatwick into the very heart of Las Vegas.

Better still, British Airways guests who take advantage of the new route and the special holiday deals (see box, right) can relax in comfort knowing their direct flight destination can be to Wynn Las Vegas and Encore – the premier destination on the Las Vegas Strip and the perfect getaway.

Surrounding guests in opulence and indulgence, Wynn Las Vegas is the most highly acclaimed five-star casino resort in the world, a property built to amaze through attention to detail. Imagine heated pools amid manicured gardens and the provocative, one-of-a-kind water show, Le Rêve – The Dream. Visualise a luxury retail, world-class dining and the city’s most celebrated nightlife.

54 | July 20 2012 |

Close by, sister resort Encore flows seamlessly into Wynn Las Vegas and is every bit as impressive. Offering an intimate ambience featuring sunlit corridors with flowering atria, sprawling pools, luxury boutiques and a number of the most popular nightclubs in the country, Encore is celebrated for both its timeless design and attentive service.

Both are located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, just moments away from the finest shopping, nightlife and entertainment the City has to offer – and both just minutes away from McCarran International Airport.

From October 29, let British Airways take you directly from London Gatwick into the heart of it all, where you can experience the lap of luxury at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

Visit www.ba.com/lasvegasoffers to book Wynn Las Vegas and Encore now

British Airways offers three nights at Wynn Las Vegas from £699 per person, and three nights at Encore from £719 per person based on selected travel between November 1 and 31 2012. Includes return British Airways flights from London Gatwick – book by July 25. $100 resort credit included. Terms and Conditions apply.

LONDON GATWICK TO LAS VEGAS From 29 October.

Continue the excitement of this summer in the entertainment capital of the world.

Flights + 3 nights hotel from £599pp. Book by 25 July at ba.com

By flying to Las Vegas from both Gatwick and Heathrow we can offer you ten direct flights a week from London - more than any other carrier.

To Fly. To Serve.

Limited availability. Prices are in GBP per person based on two adults sharing a minimum 3* accommodation on a room only basis, and include return World Traveller flights from London Gatwick to Las Vegas. Price is based on a Wednesday departure for selected travel between 01/11/12 - 30/11/12. Prices include all pre-payable taxes and charges, correct as at 10/07/12, but may vary. Book by midnight 25/07/12. Some payment methods attract a handling fee. Holidays are ATOL protected (number ATOL5985). For full terms and conditions visit ba.com

Extra time Kit

P62 Good knight, Gotham: Christian Bale goes bat shit crazy in The Dark Knight Rises

Making the most of your time and money

Big swingers Let the big dog eat: nothing in golf is more satisfying than a booming drive. Here are the hottest clubs with which to launch one

1

Cobra Orange AMP Any ideas what Rickie Orange Fowler’s favourite orange colour is?

Now he has an orange driver to match his clothes. You can’t miss with this huge sweet spot. £329 | cobragolf.com

3

2

4

Wilson Staff DXi Superlight Here’s an interesting twist on driver technology – the lightest one on the market. At 269 grams, the DXi is 50 grams lighter than most other drivers. Still works, though. £199 | wilsonstaff.com

56 | July 20 2012 |

TaylorMade RocketBallz If ever the name of a driver screamed ‘hit it further’, it is this one. But TaylorMade’s latest offering has taken the pro tours by storm, too – take note. £249 | taylormadegolf.eu

Nike VR_S The need for speed has driven the design of Nike’s latest offering.

That means more clubhead speed and a face designed to give maximum ball speed, too. Fast. £200 | nikegolf.eu

5

Callaway RAZR Fit Not many people in the world can hit a small white ball as far as Alvaro Quiros can, and this is his weapon of choice. It takes the customisable driver a step further and allows you to choose the colour of the head as well as grip and shaft preference, along with a multitude of loft and lie options. There are, altogether, 70,000 different permutations of this driver: hit them all and you might reach Alvaro Quiros’ ball. £329 | callawaygolf.com/udesign

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Star player.

Never miss a goal with the awesome new Samsung GALAXY S III and all-you-can-eat data on Three.

Pebble Blue now in stock

Gooooal!

Get the very best out of our new signing. Not only will you be able to catch all the top quality sporting action in stunning detail on the 4.8" HD screen, with all-you-can-eat data, you’ll be able to make the very most of this awesome new smartphone. Result.

The One Plan.

All you can eat data

2000

Any network minutes

5000

Three-to-Three minutes

5000 Texts

Get it today, call

0800 358 7264 Sign up for 24 months to get this deal · Inclusive minutes and texts are for most UK mobiles and UK landlines · Do you ever dial 08/070 numbers? They’re 20p per call plus 20p per minute/£1.02 per call plus 71.5p per minute respectively - check price at Three.co.uk/nts · Sorry we do not accept Visa Electron or Solo cards

Pop into a 3Store or go online

Extra time Corinne Evans

The ‘Cor’ in N Cornish

ewquay’s Fistral Beach is not only foremost among the UK’s surf spots – it also offers, as far as Sport is aware, the finest Cornish pasties in the land.

Not a bad place, then, to consider home.

Especially if you are pro-surfer turned model Corinne Evans. The 24-year-old also runs women’s surfing courses and events in Newquay and around the world, spreading the surfing word. Her talents have taken her

58 | July 20 2012 |

across Europe and as far as Australia, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean – this week, it’s Bordeaux.

“I literally spend my life surfing,” she says. “And if I’m not surfing, I’m cooking.”

Evans’ signature dish, she tells us, is a red Thai curry. A shame – we were rather hoping she could knock us up a Cornish pasty. @corinnevans is sponsored by Fox Europe, C-Skins Wetsuits and Nalu Beads

| 59

Christopher Lane represented by creamphotographic.com

Extra time Gadgets

Screen surfing Bring the power of the internet to your living room and share it with the family, with this week’s top gadget. Probably best to clear your browser history first

1

Sony NSZ-GS7 internet player with Google TV Regular readers, or anyone who’s bought a TV in the past 18 months, will know that internet-equipped TVs are nothing new.

In the majority of cases, however, the ‘Smart TV’ button gathers dust as bewildered viewers opt to continue with their diet of Freeview instead of trying to navigate the stormy seas of on-demand streaming. That could all be set to change, thanks to this collaboration. It brings

2

Google’s lightweight Chrome browser to your living room, opening up a world of amazing entertainment. And YouTube. The revolutionary thing about this box is the remote, which includes a proper laptop-style trackpad and even a keyboard, meaning that browsing the net on your TV becomes a genuine asset instead of a pointless ‘look what I can do’ non-feature. £199 | sony.co.uk

3

4

1. Atomic Floyd AirJax+ Remote

2. Casio Edifice EQW-A1110DB

3. Disgo 9104

4. Dell XPS 15

These ‘atomic’ headphones might have you reaching for your Geiger counter, but don’t worry – we’re assured they’re perfectly safe. This comfortable brushed-metal pair provide great sound, and there’s no risk of having to buy a new set when you grow a third ear. £179 | Available at Apple stores

Comes with Casio’s Smart Access system, which makes it easy to switch between modes and timezones – plus, according to the press release, “the watch is designed to offer the clearest view, enabling the wearer to tell the time at a quick glance”. Revolutionary. £500 | edifice-watches.co.uk

On first viewing, this looks and feels like an iPad – okay, it’s got a plastic back, and the screen is like that of the older iPad 2, and not the fancy new Retina one. But for less than half the price, you can’t really argue that this Android tablet doesn’t represent great value for money. £180 | mydisgo.co.uk

Apeing the brushed-metal finish and slender outline of the newer MacBooks seems like a pretty sensible design choice – and this laptop matches up on the inside as well, with powerful graphics and an impressive screen.

Almost matches up on price, too.

From £1,149 | dell.co.uk

60 | July 20 2012 |

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Extra time Entertainment

Darker still

FiLm

An Abbey Road opus, a remastered sci-fi classic, but this Friday really is all about one film... The Art of Rap. Right?

BOOK

Abbey Road Alistair Lawrence Out this week, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first Abbey Road recording, this huge hardback contains some insightful photos and a full history of Britain’s most famous music studio. It even has an introduction written by producer George Martin, who calls the studio “my nursery” – which brings to mind strange images of him handing out rusks to John, Paul, George and Ringo. If that really did occur, this fine tome is where you’d find the photograph of it.

FiLm

The Art of Rap Ice-T interviews Eminem, Chuck D and other rap icons for this new documentary focusing on the reason behind the rhymes. It’s an illuminating look at their craft with surprises, such as Kanye West being self-deprecating and funny, plus some sublime freestyling skills: a special ‘shout out’ (is that a thing?) to KRS-One. In cinemas from today.

62 | July 20 2012 |

The Dark Knight Rises Spoiler alert: we didn’t see that cameo of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze coming either. Honk!

Seriously now – and we must be serious, because director Christopher Nolan certainly treats this superhero stuff very seriously indeed – fret not, reader, this is a triumph. It’s meaty, emotional and

music

– after Heath Ledger’s Joker stole the show in its predecessor – smartly switches the focus back to Bruce Wayne. Older, brooding and injured, it’s a chance for Christian Bale to flex his acting, as well as his physical, muscle. His returning Batman does not disappoint – nor does this epic trilogy conclusion.

music

DVD

Ill Manors Plan B

Metropolis

With his references to broken Britain and Dave Cameron, Plan B is socially conscious (and as subtle as a gorilla in a tutu about it). Still, at least the Londoner has a lot more to rhyme about than drive-bys and bling. This soundtrack album (out Monday) to his 2012 film showcases Plan at his angry best, with an eclectic backing of synths and strings.

Various soundtracks have been created to run alongside visually stunning 1920s sci-fi epic Metropolis. This DVD is a restoration of Giorgio Moroder’s 1984 version with Freddie Mercury and Adam Ant, among others. Check it out and marvel at how the film has influenced everything from Blade Runner to Doctor Who.

Gossamer Passion Pit Michael Angelakos wrote songs for his girlfriend for Valentine’s Day, but they were so good that he was asked to perform them live, which in turn led to his forming Passion Pit. Good job he was too tight to cough up for that box of Milk Tray after all. The band’s second album (out on Monday) lives up to its title, spinning silky indie-pop in a series of joyous bursts. Lovely stuff.

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