Novak Djokovic says that he would like to win both Roland Garros and the Olympic gold medal this summer. "Why not both?" the Serbian said after winning the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award.
Djokovic, who led Serbia to its first Davis Cup triumph in 2010, has won the Australian Open three times and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open once each. He has yet to reach the final of Roland Garros. Djokovic won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The last player to win all four majors and an Olympic gold was Steffi Graf, who won the Golden Slam in 1988. The London Olympics begin three weeks after Wimbledon.
"I've learned how to handle my schedule, how to handle myself on and off the court and to prepare for the biggest events. That is going to be the case this year," Djokovic said. "I will try to set up my form for Roland Garros first of all, where I want to get the title and go all the way through, and then I'll start thinking about Wimbledon and the Olympics."Serena Williams has won a record 3 Laureus Sportswoman of the Year awards, Roger Federer has won 4. It should be interesting to see how many Djokovic wins. It's looking like he may really be able to repeat his astonishing 2011 tennis performance (70 wins 6 losses 3 major titles) in 2012.
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| Kirani James, left, beat World Champion LaShawn Merritt at the tape in the 400m Photo credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images |
Now, that is great writing, and a great story. Congratulations, Kirani! (About those Belgian Borlée twins, expect to see them again on this blog in the near future, as either Eye Candy or Celebrity Friday).
It takes something special to steal the headlines from an Olympic champion who has just returned from a 21-month ban because he accidentally ingested steroids while taking penis-enlargement pills. And Kirani James did just that. He beat LaShawn Merritt, who returned to the track after his suspension in July, in one of the great 400m races in the history of the world championships. James turns 19 on Saturday and his life is never going to be the same again.If James's name had not been noted before he ran in Daegu, that is hardly surprising. The world 400m champion has run only four professional races in his career, three of them in the past three days. People who like easy labels are already calling him the new Usain Bolt but that does not quite fit. He is neither as flamboyant nor as fast. The first of those differences is not going to change but the second surely will.The race had the kind of finish that is going to be rerun in the highlights reels for years to come. Merritt came into the home straight with a lead but James ran him down with 50 metres to go. The two were shoulder to shoulder as they came up to the line but James got himself half a stride in front and won by three hundredths of a second, despite Merritt's despairing dip of the head. His winning time of 44.60sec was a personal best, though it is unlikely to be so for long. The Belgian Kevin Borlée took bronze, completing a colourful cast of medal winners. His identical twin, Jonathan, was fifth.James comes from Grenada and is their first world championship medallist. When he was 16 he was running the 400m in 45.24, a time that would easily have been good enough to earn a place in the final here.
Well! For the first time, American Tyson Gay has beaten Jamaican phenom Usain Bolt in the 100m. It happened yesterday at a race in Stockholm, Sweden. Bolt, the World and Olympic record holder had not been beaten in over two years and over two dozen races. Gay won in 9.84while Bolt was second with 9.97, well below what he ran a month ago (9.82) or his reigning world record time of 9.58.
"I am just so delighted to win this Award, but very disappointed I cannot be in Abu Dhabi to say thank you in person. It's my third Laureus Award which is amazing and I would like to say thank you to all the Academy Members who voted for me and to the world's media who nominated me. Last year had its ups and downs, so to get this support is fantastic.Congratulations, Serena!
"As a tennis player you look at the amazing names of the Academy Members - like John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker and Monica Seles - who have won so many Grand Slams and they know what it takes to do that. There is nothing better in sport than being acknowledged by the people that you looked up to when you were a young player.
"The Laureus Awards have been a constant reflection of my career, winning in 2003 and 2007, and I think I was also nominated four more times. I know only Roger Federer has more Awards, so it would be cool to catch him up.
"I've had a few injury problems over the years, so it's been great to get back to the top and be World No 1 again. It's going to be an interesting year with Justine Henin back, but I'm playing well and it was great to win in Australia, and I still want to win every tournament I play. It's going to be a very exciting 2010."
Jamaican track and field phenom Usain Bolt won the 200 meter dash at the Beijing Olympics in world record time of 19.30secs, a few days after winning the 100m in a world record of 9.69secs. He becomes the first man to win the 100-200 double since the legendary Carl Lewis did it at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and the first to do so with world record times in both events.
