The big story: ‘It’s rough’, says Bolt

Usain Bolt on Friday confirmed that he had returned the 2008 Olympics 4 x 100 m relay gold after teammate Nesta Carter’s was found guilty of doping at the Beijing Games, Reuters reported.

“It’s rough that I have to give back one of my medals and I already gave it back because it was of course required by the IOC,” Bolt said in his first comments since the International Olympic Committee ruling. “I’m not happy about it but it’s just one of those things that happen in life.

“I can’t allow that to deter me from my focus this season, so I am focused but I am not pleased.”

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Carter was found to have taken the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine in re-tests of his sample. Subsequently, the entire Jamaican relay team was asked to return their gold medals.

Bolt is now left with eight Olympic golds. Carter is likely to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport with reports stating that Bolt might help fund it.

“That’s up to my management, there are a lot of variables so we will discuss that and see where we go from there,” he said.

Other top stories:

Football:

  • A late goal by Wes Morgan salvaged a replay for Leicester City against Derby County after a 2-2 draw in an FA Cup fourth-round tie on Friday.
  • Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been given a four-match touchline ban and £25,000 fine after accepting a Football Association charge of misconduct for his behaviour in the win over Burnley.
  • Manchester City have accepted an anti-doping charge after failing to notify officials of player whereabouts for drugs testing. They are likely to be fined.
  • Dutch winger Memphis Depay, who recently switched Manchester United for French club Olympique Lyon, insisted that he did not have a problem with Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho, calling him a “great coach and a great person”.
  • The All India Football Federation has reportedly sounded out a replacement for the under-fire coach of the India Under-17 team Nicolai Adam and will be finalised within a month’s time, reported PTI on Friday.
  • Churchill Brothers finally breathed life into the I-League with a fighting 2-1 win against reigning champions Bengaluru FC at the Tilak Maidan in Goa on Friday.

Cricket:

  • David Warner’s brilliant run of form saw him jump two places in the International Cricket Council’s One-Day International rankings to clinch pole position. This also meant that South African batting maestro AB de Villiers was pushed to the second spot, and India’s Virat Kohli, third.
  • Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting predicted that Steve Smith’s side would struggle during its India tour in the summer. The Australians were drubbed 0-4 in the Test series in 2013. “I think they’ll struggle. It’s become harder and harder for visiting teams to go to India. They probably make wickets to suit them more than ever before,” Ponting said.   
  • Following a string of bad results in recent times, England Test skipper Alastair Cook is ready to step down, reported The Independent. Cook, who has held the post for a little more than four years, is scheduled to discuss his future with England’s director of cricket and his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, on Friday.
  • Pakistan ODI skipper Azhar Ali has been penalised with a one-match suspension for slow over rate during the fifth match against Australia in Adelaide on Thursday. Ali was also charged 40% of his match fee. Pakistan play their next ODI against West Indies in April.  
  • Australia’s franchise-based cricketing event Big Bash League could be expanded in the 2017-’18 season with each side set to play one extra home game. This means that all the teams would play one extra home game before the semi-finals and the final.

Tennis:

  • Rafael Nadal fended off a stiff challenge from Grigor Dimitrov to set up a dream final with old nemesis Roger Federer in the Australian Open. The Spaniard edged the Bulgarian 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 in a thrilling five-set contest at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday.
  • American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova came out trumps in a tense final to beat Czech Andrea Hlavackova and China’s Peng Shuai 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 to lift the Australian Open women’s doubles title.
  • India’s Sania Mirza and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig marched into the final of the Australian Open mixed doubles on Friday. The Indo-Croat pair beat Australians Samantha Stosur and Samuel Groth 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 in the semi-final.  

Badminton:

  • Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and defending champion Kidambi Srikanth cruised into the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold on Friday, PTI reported.

Hockey:

  • Florian Fuchs and Affan Yusuf struck a brace each as Dabang Mumbai thrashed defending champions Punjab Warriors 10-4 in the Hockey India League on Friday.

Golf:

  • Shiv Kapur continued to be the best-placed Indian golfer at the halfway stage of the Myanmar Open, adding a one-under 70 to move to tied-12th on Friday. Kapur has totalled five-under 137 over the first two days.
  • Amandeep Drall carded one over 73 on the final day to emerge victorious in the 2nd Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour.
  • Tiger Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday. This is his first PGA Tour event in 17 months. The 41-year-old shot a level-par 72 in the second round. Woods was sidelined from the sport for a lengthy period after sidelined due to a back problem that required a spine surgery.

Olympics:

  • Beijing Olympics gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra was appointed the chairman of the 10-member Target Olympic Podium committee on Friday to identify and support medal prospects for the 2020 and the 2024 summer games, reported PTI.

Diving:

  • A national level swimmer Tanika Dhara, 23, committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Mumbai, Hindustan Times reported. She was working with Western Railway, the report added.