Issue 270 | August 24 2012

TAKE 2London 2012: The Paralympics

Untitled-1 3 20/08/2012 13:16

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Airwaves lover rescues cat with picnic basket and fi shing line

by CONSTANCE BARNWELL

Leisurely picnics don’t normally end with heroism, but last Saturday when Liam Terris was chewing on Airwaves and contemplating a particularly tasty cucumber sandwich… he heard a high-

pitched caterwauling from across the river…

Much to his surprise, he spied a tabby cat hanging precariously from the top branches of an overhanging tree. With no time to lose, and the distressed whelping getting louder: Liam utilized some fresh Airwaves thinking, and threw the empty

basket out towards the cat. It skidded across the river’s surface (attached only tohis fi shing line), just in time for the cat to come hurtling down from tree, (attached only to his fi shing line), just in time for the Airwaves thinking, and threw the empty basket out towards the cat. It skidded across the river’s surface (attached only to his fi shing line), just in time for the cat to come hurtling down from tree, landing snugly in his basket… Now that’s what we call fresh thinking!

Tabby has since been adopted by the Terris family, and has sworn off tree climbing for the foreseeable future.

‘I’m so happy I found Tabby!’

Below: Airwaves lover saves Tabby

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104484 Airwaves Mag Sport 300x232.indd 1 16/08/2012 10:48

issue 270, August 24 2012

Radar

06 Grapple fans! We love these posters celebrating our favourite wrestlers from the 1980s

08 Blade shoes The first ever running shoe created for prosthetics

10 Footballing face-offs As a new book of Premier League legends is released, we pit the best against each other

o this coming weekFeatures

16 Jonnie Peacock We launch our big Paralympics preview with cover star Jonnie Peacock – the man aiming to dethrone Oscar Pistorius 23 Ellie Simmonds The youngest ever recipient of an MBE is ready to win more gold medals — don’t bet against her 36 T20 Finals Day As he leads Somerset into battle, Marcus Trescothick reflects on how T20 has changed the game

extra time

52 Kit A new football season can only mean one thing: a page of football boot porn 54 Sophie Hellyer The surfer girl with the best sporting nickname we’ve come across – this week, at least

56 Grooming It’s the US Open – so we’ve, er, gone all American Psycho

58 Gadgets Including a remote-controlled plane: you’re very welcome 60 Entertainment The Walking Dead, Ian McEwan, Clive Owen, Elbow and the ‘less portentous’ Arcade Fire

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| August 24 2012 | 03

haddya mean, you’re not sure if wrestlers are real athletes,

you pencil-necked poindexter? You can argue that The Rock

deserves an Olympic gold medal as much as anyone involved

in basketball or rhythmic gymnastics. However, it’s the WWF peak of

the 1980s that remains the pinnacle for many fans – and it’s that era’s

grapplers who are celebrated in this snazzy new range of posters

from the US. A minimalist design, plus a special move reference, tells

the story of each. But can you name all seven of these wrestlers?

For the full range of 12, go to bamitsbernie.com ($20 each print)

Radar

06 | August 24 2012 |

p09 – Now that’s liquid (sort of) football

p08 – Blade runner meets Ironman

p10 – Premier League’s best of the best

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Radar

The triathlon isn’t a

Paralympic event, but it

soon could be if these

catch on. A collaboration between

Nike and Finnish company Ossur,

who make athletics prosthetics for

the likes of Oscar Pistorius, these

are the first ever shoes created for

use on prosthetics. They were made for

American Sarah Reinertsen, the first

female amputee ever to finish the Ironman

triathlon – and, as you can see, they’re as

high-tech as any top-end trainer.

1 Plastic tabs clip to the running blade for secure fit and easy removal when finished.

2 A layer of soft plastic helps the sole grip to the blade, and reduces noise while running.

3 Just as in a shoe, this foam layer provides cushioning for comfort and support.

4 Rubber sole for improved traction when running on road surfaces.

1

2

3

4

f you find yourself

screaming obscenities at

the TV when Gervinho

does the exact opposite of the

right thing time and time again,

Fluid Football might be of

interest. It’s a real-time strategy

game for iPhone and iPad, where

you can take control of an errant

winger, and everyone else on the

pitch, for a series of set-piece

scenarios. You map out player

runs, and can drag defenders out

of position to create space for a

shot — it’s wholesome addictive

fun, and is soundtracked by Andy

Gray and Richard Keys (mercifully

that’s commentary, not music).

If you decide to check it out,

here’s a hint for you, and a

certain Ivorian — if you’ve got men

unmarked in the middle, please

don’t just run the ball out of play.

Fluid Football, free from the

App Store for iPhone and iPad

Take a bow I

new book rating the Premier League’s 100 greatest

icons celebrates 20 years since this titanic competition

was born. The debates and players that have kept us

talking go head to head below, alongside a top 100 ‘legend’ rating.

10 | August 24 2012 |

RadarS

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The Talksport

Book of Premier

League Legends

by Bill Borrows

is published in

hardback (Simon &

Schuster), £18.99

Legends face off

FOX IN THE BOXRobbie Fowler (17) v Ruud van Nistelrooy (40)Fowler still holds the record for the fastest

hat-trick in Premier League history (four

minutes and 33 seconds for Liverpool against

Arsenal in 1994) and was the deadliest striker

in the top flight during his first Anfield spell.

However, injury problems mean Van Nistelrooy

shades this by virtue of a better goalscoring

ratio (one goal every 1.6 EPL games compared

with Fowler’s 2.3) and the fact that only two

of his 95 goals came from outside the area.

VERDICT: Van Nistelrooy

THAT MUST HAVE HURTKevin Davies (85) v Duncan Ferguson (52)The most booked player in Premier League

history (99), Davies has also committed the

most fouls (over 1,100 to date) but escapes

censure here because he is also the most

fouled player. Ferguson, however, has been

sent off a record eight times, has an actual

rap sheet, put a burglar in hospital and is

more familiar with the application of blunt

force trauma rather than the (admittedly

frequent) niggle favoured by Davies.

VERDICT: Ferguson

THE COMEBACK KIDPaul Scholes (29) v Tony Adams (28)Two very different comebacks here. Both to

be admired, but one more remarkable than

the other. The fact that Scholes could pick

up where he left off at Old Trafford with

no discernible deterioration after early

retirement is testament to his career-long

professionalism. Adams’ recovery from

alcoholism and a spell in prison to lead his club

and country throughout the 1990s – and his

efforts to help others in a similar position –

signify a much more profound redemption.

VERDICT: Adams

MAVERICK GENIUSPaolo Di Canio (14) v Mario Balotelli (89)Both Italian, both strikers, both brilliant on

their day. Who will turn up? The Di Canio who

assaults a referee or the one who scores

an airborne volley against Wimbledon? The

Balotelli who stamps on an opponent or the

one who sets up a title-clinching winner in

injury time? Who knows? Certainly not their

managers. Despite the off-the-field fireworks,

Di Canio gets the vote here for that goal-of-

the-season scissor-kick volley in March 2000.

But Balotelli isn’t finished yet, we suspect.

VERDICT: Di Canio

Game onour vote counts. And no, we’re not

talking X Factor here. The Golden

Joystick Awards are upon us again,

and the Sports Game of the Year Award

will be a hard-fought category as ever. Your

opinion will make a difference,

so whether you’re a FIFA

fanatic, a Madden maniac or a

Football Manager addict, you

can have your say. Vote online

now at goldenjoystick.com.

The shortlistMadden NFL 12Tiger Woods PGA 13Pro Evolution Soccer 2012NBA 2K12SSXNHL 12Football Manager 2012FIFA StreetFIFA 12

12 | August 24 2012 |

Radar Editor’s letter

Editor-in-chief

Simon Caney

@simoncaney

Sport magazine

Part of UTV Media plc

18 Hatfields, London SE1 8DJ

Telephone: 020 7959 7800

Fax: 020 7959 7942

Email: firstname.lastname@

sport-magazine.co.uk

Editorial

Editor-in-chief: Simon Caney (7951)

Deputy editor: Tony Hodson (7954)

Associate editor: Nick Harper (7897)

Art editor: John Mahood (7860)

Deputy art editor: William Jack (7861)

Digital designer: Chris Firth (7624)

Subeditor: Graham Willgoss (7431)

Senior writers: Sarah Shephard (7958),

Alex Reid (7915)

Staff writers: Mark Coughlan (7901),

Amit Katwala (7914)

Picture editor: Julian Wait (7961)

Production manager: Tara Dixon (7963)

Contributors: Claire Nash

Commercial

Agency Sales Director: Iain Duffy (7991)

Business Director (Magazine and iPad):

Paul Brett (7918)

Business Director: Kevin O’Byrne (7832)

Advertising Manager: Steve Hare (7930)

New Business Sales Executive:

Hayley Robertson (7904)

Brand Creative Director:

Adam Harris (7426)

Distribution Manager: Sian George (7852)

Distribution Assistant: Makrum Dudgeon

Head of Online: Matt Davis (7825)

Head of Communications:

Laura Wootton (7913)

Managing Director: Adam Bullock

PA to Managing Director:

Sophia Koulle (7826)

Colour reproduction: Rival Colour Ltd

Printed by: Wyndeham Group Ltd

© UTV Media plc 2012

UTV Media plc takes no responsibility for

the content of advertisements placed in

Sport magazine

£1 where sold

Hearty thanks this week to:

Dan Geneen, Adrian Phillips, James

Woodroof, David Lawrenson and ESPN

for the very nice selection of pies...

Don’t forget: Help keep public transport clean and tidy for everyone by taking your copy of Sport away with you when you leave the bus or train.

LAUNCH OFTHE YEAR

2008

Total Average Distribution: 305,676 Jan-Jun 2012

www.sport-magazine.co.uk

@sportmaguk

facebook.com/sportmagazine

K evin Pietersen is possibly the most gifted England batsman of my lifetime. Very few players — in history — have been quite so destructive or

unplayable when at the top of their game.And yet I’d quite happily see him

never don the Three Lions again. He’s

overstepped the mark.

Firstly came his desire to play full time

in the Indian Premier League. I don’t have

a problem with anyone doing it, but if they

do they need to understand that they can’t

expect to waltz back into their Test team

whenever they feel like it. Chris Gayle, a

huge talent himself, doesn’t demand to

play for the West Indies whenever he feels

like it. Pietersen may have changed his

tune on the subject, but by the time he

had the damage had been done.

Then came those texts to Pietersen’s

friends in the South African camp. Now, he

is still to reveal exactly what they said,

but reports suggest they were less than

complimentary about Andrew Strauss.

That’s neither really here nor there,

though. Pietersen (naturally) knows the

South Africans well and was having a rant

about his boss — fairly standard practice.

More damaging, though, was his apparent

advice to them to bowl around the wicket

to Strauss. They probably didn’t need

telling that, but that’s not the point.

Imagine if England were playing Spain in

a crucial World Cup match and Wayne

Rooney texted his mate David De Gea to

tell him where Steven Gerrard was most

likely to put a penalty. He’d be vilified

beyond belief.

The ECB maybe haven’t handled

this well. It should have been dealt with

much quicker. But despite that magnificent

talent, I can’t help thinking England are

indeed better off without Kevin Pietersen.

Interesting to hear that a new TV channel is being launched to capitalise on the interest in ‘minority’ sports from the Olympics. London Legacy is its name and it’s from Highflyer, the company that recently lost its contract to produce Channel 4’s racing coverage after 28 years. It would be lovely to think such sports didn’t need a specialist channel, but the reality is that they do, especially now the football season has begun. Still, it’s a start.

Talking of football, I really wasn’t ready

for the start of the season last week.

Like so many people, I had an Olympic

hangover, and it just didn’t seem right

to be tuning into football so quickly.

I always claim that, as each season

passes, I fall a little more out of love

with the game – but, as ever, I found

myself absorbed by it all. We can enjoy

Olympics, Paralympics and football.

They’re not mutually exclusive.

Sticks and stones...... aren’t the only things that hurt. A silly insult is one thing, but tactical advice to the opponents?

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

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Walking, talking disaster: Pietersen has alienated fans

as well as teammates

Reader comments of the week

@simoncaney Handball is

the perfect sport for

schoolkids. Yet all funding

cut 2 days after Games

finish. Govt talk of legacy

all hot air.

@ianh182

Twitter

Fantastic article in

@Sportmaguk by

@simoncaney this morning.

Fingers crossed the decision

makers take note! Happy

birthday to Felix! X

@SamTheOrangutan

Twitter

Great editor’s column by

@simoncaney in today’s

@Sportmaguk “a happy

country is a more

productive country”

@severinamiss

Twitter

@Sportmaguk Absolutely

loved your Olympic

round-up. Shed a tear,

laughed my tits off &

enjoyed every moment of

it! Just like the real thing

@Lluvy1

Twitter

Every Friday I get home &

the missus has @

Sportmaguk waiting for me!

Can you really ask for much

more than that!?

#marriagematerial

@Broadinator

Twitter

Free iPad app available on Newsstand

Cover of the Year

14 | August 24 2012 |

Field of dreams, dudeDispelling the myth that country sport can only

mean fox bothering and morris men, here’s a

shot of two modern young chaps cutting a dash

through a farmer’s field on their bikes. Of course,

this being a high-octane Red Bull event, we can

only assume they were shifting far quicker than

they look to be here, and that the obligatory

Massive Drop To Oblivion was positioned just to

the left of our shot. Death and destruction

straight ahead, chaps.rutg

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16 | August 24 2012 |

London 2012 Paralympics

Just four years ago, amputee Jonnie Peacock knew little of the Paralympics and even less about sprinting. Now he’s set to be the quickest sprinter at London 2012

Fast learner

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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

“I had a really bad race. But it makes me confident knowing I can run a world record with a bad race”

Usain Bolt’s reign as the 100m king may have been under threat going into the London Olympics, but defending 100m Paralympic champion Oscar

Pistorius must feel he needs to call on the

army for help protecting his sprint gold.

The man chasing Pistorius down is no

Jamaican Beast, though. Jonnie Peacock is

a 19-year-old sprinter from Cambridge who

lost his right leg at the age of five, after

contracting meningococcal septicaemia

(whereby toxins are released into the blood

and break down the walls of blood vessels).

He’s also the current 100m world record

holder in amputee sprinting, his 10.85s run

at the US trials in June (where he was an

invited guest) slicing 0.06s off the previous

record held by USA’s 2004 Paralympic champ,

Marlon Shirley.

But just four years ago, Peacock admits

he didn‘t even realise there was a race “just

for people like me”. And if it hadn’t been

for a well-timed visit to his prosthetist (the

woman tasked with making his prosthetic

leg), who told him about a Talent ID day being

run by the British Paralympic Association

(BPA), he might never have done so.

“My dad said I couldn’t go because it was

a school day,” Peacock reveals with a wry

smile. “But I asked my mum and she said

‘definitely’. She and my stepdad took the day

off work to drive me to London. So if it wasn’t

for them, I don’t think I’d be here today.”

Here, being the mostly deserted gym at

Lee Valley, a high-performance training

centre used by UK Athletics where Peacock

has been toiling under the tutelage of world-

renowned athletics coach Dan Pfaff since

last November. With most of the centre’s

regulars holed up in the Olympic village when we

meet, Peacock has been relying on the radio

to keep him “pumped up” for his sessions –

the only plus side to the loneliness being he

has the equipment all to himself.

But it’s not for long. Soon, he’ll be roared

on by a crowd of thousands eager to see

more of the golden moments that lit up the

Olympic Stadium just a few weeks ago. And

as the fastest man on the track, Peacock

will be among the favourites to deliver...

Are you ready to make your Paralympic

debut as a gold-medal favourite?

[Laughs] “Maybe. But Oscar has got his

Paralympic medals to retain and I know he’ll

want to do everything he can to help South

Africa up the medal table. He’s a bit lacking

in power because he’s gone a bit lighter

for the 400m, but technically he’s improved

tremendously. He’s not gonna come to the

Paralympics ready to roll over and give his

medals up, I know that. But I know what I’m

capable of, and it’s a lot better than 10.85s.

I’m looking to shock a few people in London.”

Your world record in the USA wasn’t the

perfect race, then?

“Although it’s a fantastic time, I’m ashamed

of myself because the race was atrocious.

I came out of the blocks and just stood up

straight away, so by my third or fourth step

I’m near enough upright. In the 100m, you

want to be driving for the first 30 metres,

then transition and be upright by about 50.

I’m upright by nearly 20 metres. Looking at it

now, I had a really bad race and am annoyed

at myself. But it makes me confident to

know I can run 10.85s with a bad race.”

At the World Championships last year, you

finished fifth in 11.63s. That’s almost a

second slower than you ran in the USA in

June. What’s made the difference?

“I moved to London to train with Dan Pfaff.

He’s one of the best coaches in the world

for practically any athletics event, and in the

100m he’s had some pretty good names —

Carl Lewis, for example.

“I wouldn’t have run sub-11s this year

if it wasn’t for Dan and the knowledge he

has. He’s helped me move my technique on

hugely. Steve Lewis [GB pole vaulter] said I

should go down that line-up and apologise to

everyone else for having the opportunity to

train under someone

with the record Dan

has – and he’s

probably right.”

You were only

five when you lost

your leg. Do you

remember what it

was like learning

to walk with a

prosthetic?

“I hear all these

other amputees >

Jonnie Peacock

18 | August 24 2012 |

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saying how they had to learn to run again,

and how much hard work it was – but in

all honesty, as soon as I could walk, I could

run. I didn’t really care if it hurt either, I just

wanted to go out and run.

”My mum loves telling people that even if I

had a sore stump, it was always more painful

for me not to join in than to join in and get a

sore leg afterwards. I learned to walk pretty

quickly; as soon as I was doing that I was

playing football and rugby at school.”

Pistorius became the first track-and-field

athlete to cross over from the Paralympics

to the Olympics this summer. Do you see

yourself ever doing the same thing?

“The 400m [in which Pistorius competed

at the Olympics] is hugely competitive, but

the 100m has to be the most competitive

because every single person who does

athletics has tried it.

“And if you look at the science behind why

Oscar has a disadvantage, everyone knows

it’s his first 200m. Well the 100m is half of

that, so I’m probably at a disadvantage for

70 metres of the 100m. I can see myself

running quick in the future, but I don’t think

I could ever bridge the gap to the Olympics.”

Some Paralympians are uneasy about

athletes crossing over, as they feel it

demeans the Paralympics...

“Obviously the Paralympics is great for any

disabled athlete to get to, but the Olympics

is the pinnacle. I know Oscar says he’s

never going to forget where he came from,

which is the Paralympics, and I know he

still really does value it and will always

put that up there. But I think he’d be lying

if he said the Paralympics is just as

important as the Olympics. If I was running

10 seconds flat [for the 100m] and you

said to me, ’Jonny, if you could only pick

one which would it be?’ then of course it’s

gonna be the Olympics.Anyone who denies

that and says they’d go to the Paralympics

instead is just lying.

“But there’s a reason for the Paralympics

being there. It’s not there because you’re

not good enough to go to the Olympics;

it’s there because there‘s a reason you’re

not good enough to go to the Olympics.

Because you’ve got to do so much more

to get there – and it’s just impossible

for most people. There are certain things

that roadblock you. For me, I’m never go-

ing to say never in the 100m – but it’s just

gonna be a lot harder in the 100m than in

the 400m, and unfortunately I’m just not

made to run the 400m.”

Is it true that David Beckham played a part

in inspiring you to do sport?

“He was one of my favourite sportsmen

growing up, and I got the chance to meet

him at Euro 2000 when I was seven. He’s

a great man; he came in and

spent so much more time

with me than any of the other

players did. He pulled out a

training top that he had and

signed it for me – I’ve still got

it in my wardrobe today.

“I’m sure he didn’t ever think

when he sat down that this kid

will be a world record holder

in the 100m one day. It’d be

great to meet him in the future

as well... so if anyone could set

that up, it would be good!”

Sarah Shephard

Watch BT Ambassador Jonnie

Peacock on Channel 4, the

domestic host broadcaster of

the London 2012 Paralympic

Games. BT is the official communications

services partner for the London 2012

Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Oscar would be lying if he said the Paralympics is as important as the Olympics”

J

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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Just like its sister event, the Paralympic Games throws up all manner of unlikely success stories. None is more incredible

than that of Ellie Simmonds, who became a

national icon in 2008 when, aged just 13, she

won two gold medals in the pool in Beijing.

A whirlwind of attention followed after a

tearful poolside interview — Simmonds was

named Young Sports Personality of the Year

ahead of Laura Robson and Tom Daley, and

became the youngest person in history to

be awarded an MBE.

Simmonds, who has achondroplastic

dwarfism, will enter the Aquatics Centre as

one of Great Britain’s key Paralympic medal

hopes, swimming in the S6 disability category

in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, and

the 200m individual medley. Meeting her,

we’re struck by how young she still seems:

last week, she was opening her AS level

results in history and world development;

this week, she’s one of Britain’s great

medal hopes for the Paralympic Games.

She’s understandably nervous. “It’s good to

have nerves,” she tells us. “It’d be weird if

I didn’t – it makes it more exciting, you get

an adrenaline rush and it just gets you more

pumped up for racing. I’m gonna be really

nervous — it’s scary thinking about it, but

when the starting buzzer goes and I’m in

the water my nerves will go. Everyone gets

nervous for the biggest event of their life.”

Training daysPreparation has been increasing in intensity

as that event approaches — Simmonds fits

in 18 hours a week around school, in nine

two-hour sessions. “It’s definitely getting

harder and more focused,” she says. “I have

a schedule that I’ve got to hit — I train from

6am to 8am, and then I have school and then

train from 3pm until 5pm. It’s all balanced.

My coach knows what he’s got to do and has

everything sorted, so we just roll with him.”

The 17-year-old is undertaking that

schedule with the guidance of Swansea-

Strokes of genius

Sport sits down with Ellie Simmonds, the precocious 17-year-old swimmer looking to defend double Olympic gold in the Aquatics Centre

based coach Billy Pye, who was awarded an

MBE alongside his protege after the Games

in China. They’ve now been working together

for seven years, but their collaboration was

initially confined to the school holidays until

four years ago, when Simmonds moved to

South Wales with her mum so she could

train full time with Pye — leaving her father

up in Birmingham to run the family business.

“It’s a good move and I’m happy I made

it,“ she says. “I don’t think I would have

been able to go to Beijing and do what I did

without going to Swansea. I’m there from

Monday to Saturday morning, and then go

back home to Birmingham. It is quite hard

but you just get used to it – I’ve been doing

it for four years now.”

That’s a sentiment echoed by her mother,

Val. “It was tough to start with,” she tells us.

“But I think we were at the stage where it

worked for us as a family. The club at home

had closed for repairs and ended up being

shut for two years, and she needed more >

London 2012 Paralympics

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“I’m gonna go out, swim the best I can and hope it’s the best in the world”time in the water to develop. Birmingham

is not very good for pools, and we just

couldn’t get enough pool time.”

Wiser with experienceIt was a gamble that paid dividends, with

two unexpected golds in Beijing – but what

can Simmonds remember of the flurry of

attention that followed?

“It’s a bit of a blur, really,“ she admits.

“It was a great experience, but I didn’t take

any photos. In London I’m gonna take loads

of photos, and I’ve got a video camera so I

can look back on all my experiences after.

For three months after Beijing, the phone

didn’t stop ringing — I got to do a lot of great

things, like Blue Peter and meeting the

Queen. Walking through Buckingham Palace,

there’s all these people at the gates and you

can see them thinking: ‘Why is she going in

there?’ It was all

a bonus really.”

One by-product

of her success she

didn’t enjoy quite

so much was the

fuss made on her

return to school in Swansea. “I just wanted to

go back to normal, because I think of school as

a normal place,” she recalls. “But they did this

thing where people could say congratulations

and stuff; which was good, but it would have

been better for me just to get back normally.

Everyone got a day off, though; they liked that.“

Her classmates might get another one

if Simmonds can replicate her success, or

even better, at the Aquatics Centre. “I’m not

really giving myself a target at the moment,“

she insists. “I‘m just gonna go out there and

have fun, swim the best I can on the day and

hope that that’s the best in the world.”

It was good enough in Beijing, despite her

youth — but that’s not something Simmonds

pays much attention to: “If you want to do

something you just go and do it — age doesn‘t

have an effect. I had a good support group by

me, and I coped with it all quite well.”

The same applies to

her disability — she

doesn’t attribute

her competitive

edge to having to

overcome adversity

in any way.

“It’s just the way

I am,“ she says.

“I’m always trying

to be the best I can be and trying to get

everything out of myself — I don’t think it’s

because of my disability.”

Simmonds doesn’t want to be singled

out for her youth, her condition, or even her

achievements. Instead, we talk about school

life, her recently passed driving test, shopping

and going to the cinema – “normal teenager

things”, as she puts it. Because she is just

that — a normal teenager with extraordinary

drive and an incredible talent.

Amit Katwala @amitkatwala

Ellie Simmonds is an Active Kids and

Paralympic Games ambassador for

Sainsbury’s. For more information,

go to sainsburys.co.uk/paralympics

Ellie Simmonds

24 | August 24 2012 |

Looking up: ‘If you want to do something you should just go and do it,’ says Simmonds

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26 | August 24 2012 |

London 2012 Paralympics

Channel 4 presenter and national treasure Clare Balding on why the Paralympics will be a festival of must-see sport

Why you should watch the Paralympics

The Paralympics is really top-class international sport, and we’re very good at it. We finished second in the medals

table in Beijing (behind

China), with 42 gold

medals, so the chances

are that we’re going to go even better than that

at home. So you have the chance of following

British athletes, and possibly seeing them win.

There is a deeper and broader and wider

message with the Paralympic Games. I think

it touches people in a different way than

the Olympics, and in many ways its legacy

is more profound and longer-term, because

the legacy of a Paralympic Games is all about

strengths of the human mind and strengths

of the human body. It’s about practical

things like building sports venues that

are wheelchair-accessible, thinking about

transport and changing the way we design

our transport system so that wheelchair

users or the visually impaired can get around

easily – and that, I think, is a really important

part of the Paralympic message.

Inspiring a generationIt really means something to everybody,

and I don’t think it’s just if you are disabled.

Anyone watching Oscar Pistorius or

Ellie Simmonds or David Weir... you look at

that and you think: ’Right, I need to look at

myself — am I pushing myself enough? Am I

achieving everything that my body is capable

of doing?’

It is all about not having limitations, not

putting limitations on yourself. And I do

think the Paralympics has a great power to

send that message, and I think it will have

a particular effect on anyone under about

the age of 14 watching it.

It’s to do with kids connecting with

somebody. Inspiration works if you see

someone who is like you; you think ’Gosh, if

they can do it, I can do it.’ Ellie Simmonds,

for example, is like a lot of young teenagers.

Spoiled for choiceThere are so many sports we’re good at:

cycling, swimming, athletics. We’re very

good at judo as well, and powerlifting.

Wheelchair basketball and wheelchair

rugby — that’s a brutal sport. That’s one you

watch, and after about five minutes you go:

’Oh my god, they’re going to kill each other —

he’s fallen out of his chair!’ But this is what

happens when men play sport. They batter

each other.

It stops you being overprotective,

and I think that’s another virtue of the

Paralympics. Although it teaches you to

be aware of the needs of people who

might use wheelchairs, it also teaches

you not to be overprotective.

Having worked at the Paralympic Games

before, I know from the response I get

from viewers how much of a difference it

makes. I have always felt that the Olympic

Games changes the way you feel in a very

positive way, but the Paralympic Games

changes the way you think. Very few

sports can do that, and that to me is huge

— it has this enormous power, and I just

hope it will be a lasting power and I will do

my best to make sure that it is.

You can’t fail to be enthralled and moved

by the Paralympics, and that’s what good

sport should do.

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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Who to watch from Team GBLee Pearson (left) Equestrian

“Lee is the most

extraordinary rider. He

talks about how you can put

him on legs and he can’t

really move, but put him on

a horse and he suddenly

has freedom. He has nine

gold medals already, a 100

per cent record at the

Paralympic Games. He is

outstanding as a rider,

and I think he’s the star

of a very, very capable

equestrian team.”

David Weir (middle) Athletics

“He’s competing in four

different wheelchair races,

including the marathon and

the 1,500m. Now he could

do a clean sweep of gold

medals, and that would be

exceptional. Dave’s been

through a fair bit — he

nearly went out of the sport

altogether, but he has come

back. He’s very strong

physically, and I think he’s

really worked on his mental

strength now as well.”

Sarah Storey (right)Cycling

“She very nearly made

the Olympic team — she is

outstanding and so fast.

The Paralympic cycling

team train with the Olympic

cycling team; they use all

of the same facilities and I

think it’s really showing in

their performances. And the

Velodrome is such a fabulous

place, so we should be very

strong in that.”

Turn over the page for our

interview with Sarah Storey

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You started training as a cyclist only in

2005, yet you won two gold medals at the

Paralympics three years later, taking your

overall tally to 18. Were you a natural when

it came to the track?

“Well, within six months of learning to ride on

the track I’d broken a world record. There’s

lots of development programmes working

with people who’ve ridden a bike all their life,

and they still haven’t managed to go very

quick. But I picked it up relatively quick.

That’s just down to me as an individual.”

You’ve been an elite athlete for 20 years,

having gone to your first Paralympics at 14.

Does it feel like it’s all you’ve ever known?

“Definitely. When you’ve known no different,

you’re constantly working to make sure

your body’s in the right state for the next

training session or next race, because

the next race is the one you’re going to be

judged on. People always want to know: can

you do it again? Can you go faster? Are you

gonna beat this person or that person? It’s

constant, but it’s great because it’s always

pushing me to be better.”

How much have you seen the attitude to

the Paralympics change since you started

competing?

“It’s just the realisation from people outside

of our world what’s going on. Athletes at the

Paralympics are competing at the highest

level, they just happen to have a disability.

People are realising it is sports footage

and, just like in boxing where you don’t keep

mentioning the weight of the boxer, you don’t

keep mentioning the disability of the athlete.

You’re just talking about athletes. That

change of perception has been massive.”

You’re 34, an age when people might expect

you to slow down, but your times keep

improving. Is age no factor on the track?

“In cycling, the older you are, in some ways,

the better. The strength you need on the

road or track develops with age, so for

me there is no age barrier the way there

perhaps is in swimming. There’s no reason

to think I have to retire after London; Rio

is a distinct possibility, and while I’m still

improving and winning gold medals it

would be rude to retire.”

Storey of six

You were in contention for competing in

both the Olympics and Paralympics at one

point, having won gold for GB in the team

pursuit at a World Cup event in 2011. Was it

a shock when you were dropped from

the squad just a week later?

“As a road rider who has a turn of speed on

the track, it looked like it was going to be a

good option for me. But they decided I wasn’t

needed. It’s a shame, but you have to have

those tough decisions made. I just hope that

while I’ve been the victim of a very tough and

hard decision, every person who’s made the

team is there having had the tough decision

made. We’ve got great talent in British Cycling.

It’s tough to think I would be able to make the

team in any other nation in the world, but we

are so good in this country that I was the one

deemed surplus to requirements.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

Sarah Storey is an ambassador for Links

of London, who are the official jewellery

designers for London 2012. The Team GB

Band is available in Links of London stores

and at linksoflondon.com/2012

Sarah Storey

She competed as a swimmer at four Paralympics before swapping pool for velodrome in Beijing. Now Sarah Storey aims to add five more golds at London 2012

28 | August 24 2012 |

THE LIMITS OF POSSIBILITY HAVE BEEN REDEFINED | LIMITED EDITION OAKLEY RADAR®

OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF TEAM GB

UK.OAKLEY.COM©2012 Oakley, Inc. | 01727 795791

oakley-sport-SP.indd 1 14/08/2012 17:05

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Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Talk us through your injury.

“It happened in Iraq in 2007, when a bit of

shrapnel from a rocket attack lacerated my

left arm. I got my first prosthetic arm within

three weeks and was only in rehab for three

months. The prosthetic arm doesn’t have

a huge effect on track cycling — I have a

special arm that clips into the handlebars —

but the road bike and team sprint bike need

to be customised for right-hand operation.”

Was cycling always something you

were into?

“I’d never cycled before I got injured, but

was sent to a Paralympics taster day

towards the end of my time at Headley Court

[the military rehab centre], and they said

I had a chance to make it in cycling. They

basically said I had no chance in anything

else! I watched the cycling in Beijing, thought

it looked exciting and decided to give it a go.

Six months later I was tested again, and I’ve

been in the British team since mid-2009.”

And you’ve been winning golds and

breaking records ever since. Expecting to

do the same in London?

“I’m pretty confident, but a lot depends on

the day as Jody Cundy is the champion in

the C4 category and I’m the best in C5. We’ll

compete at the same level in London. It will

be a GB one-two, I just don’t know which

way. He’s all about a strong start while I ride

consistently and have a big finish, so if I’m

close at the halfway point there’s a good

chance I can reel him in. That’s in the sprint,

then I have the pursuit and the team sprint.”

Do you think you could make Olympic

standard one day?

“We share facilities with the Olympic

cyclists. Obviously they’re better, so you

just concentrate on doing what you can do,

but we’re getting closer. I don’t see why a

Paralympic cyclist can’t be in the Olympics,

but it won’t be for Team GB because the

British squad is just so strong. If I was

On track for gold

Six golds, three silvers, one bronze and two world records. It’s safe to say Jon-Allan Butterworth has been busy since taking up cycling in 2009, and the Team GB star is nowhere near finished

another nationality, you never know

what might have happened.”

How much are you looking forward to a

home Games?

“The best thing about competing at home is

there’s no travel. I suffered from jetlag at

the World Championships, but still finished

sixth in the pursuit and won the sprint.

With home advantage — and a home crowd

cheering us — I’m going for gold in all three

events. I don’t want to walk away with three

silvers, but I've only been cycling for three

years and am still only 26. Realistically, Rio is

when I’m going to be in the best shape.”

Mark Coughlan @coffers83

The British Paralympic Association's 'Front

Line to Start Line' is an initiative working to

get injured servicemen and women back into

competitive sport. To show your support,

buy the exclusive t-shirt at adidas.com.

All proceeds go towards FL2SL

Jon-Allan Butterworth

36 | August 24 2012 |

Marcus Trescothick

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It’s 10 years since Twenty20 cricket was

introduced. Did you take to the format from

the off, or were you one of the cynics?

“Well I was brought up on the concept back in

my younger days, when I used to play 20-over

games, and I always thought it was great fun.

But it was a slog, more a bit of entertainment

than a game you really tried to win. That’s

where [top-level] Twenty20 cricket has

changed things. It’s still a dynamic game, but

very structured and thought through.”

So is the strategy more important now than

it was when it started?

“Massively — it’s so complex. It is short and

sharp, but so much goes on. Planning and

preparation are key. I’m talking about teams,

but then there are also individual players

who practise certain shots. We’ve seen the

introduction of the slog sweeps, the reverse

sweeps, all these different things. That’s

come about because people have realised

what they can achieve with this game.”

How has Twenty20 had an impact on the

other forms of cricket?

“Now, in 40 or 50-over matches, you’re

getting 300 or 350+ on good pitches, whereas

back in the day you were looking at 250.

Teams are making scores like 220 to 240 in

a 20-over match, so players now realise they

can chase 10 an over for 15 overs and win

games. That’s helped cricket move on. It’s

a better spectacle in all formats.”

Some people are concerned that Twenty20

cricket is threatening the longer formats of

the game. Is that a worry you share?

“It’s something you’re always aware of. We’ve

the situation here for the club. Other counties

might disagree, but I don’t see how much we

play it as a problem at all.”

How have Somerset turned their home

games into a success, where other counties

have struggled a bit more?

“We play on good pitches, that helps. People

want to see the ball flying. They want to see

Kieron Pollard smashing it out the ground and

landing it in the river. They wanted to see

Chris Gayle come here and whack it to all

parts. You’re hoping he’ll hit it into the car

park across the road. That brings people

through the gates when you get those sort of

players. People also want to see a successful

side and we’re managing to produce that,

getting through to the Friends Life t20 Finals

Day four years in a row now.”

You mention Pollard and Gayle. Is it

frustrating that it’s getting harder for

counties to pick up the best overseas

players due to the IPL, the Big Bash and

international cricket?

“Well, we’ve always managed to pick up people

we’ve wanted. We just missed out on Chris

Gayle this year as he came back into the

international game, which was a

disappointment for the club. Everybody has

their own way of approaching it, but if you

want the big guns, you can pick them up —

if you’re willing to pay them the money.”

Some people say that a franchise system of

10 or so English Twenty20 teams might help.

What do you think of that?

“I don’t know if we need to go to a franchise.

The IPL, the competitions in Australia and

South Africa... we have to understand that

they’re very different to the English set-up.

Having 18 first-class counties is unique

compared to the rest of the world. If we have

a different product, then I think we have to try

and work with it. We’ve got probably the biggest

day of the county season this weekend. In my

opinion, the current situation works nicely.”

Alex Reid @otheralexreid

Follow the Friends Life t20 Finals Day on August 25

via ecb.co.uk/flt20 and live on Sky Sports 1

Banger & SmaSh

got a situation where some players can earn

millions of dollars playing Twenty20 cricket

in different parts of the world. Is it a worry?

I’m of the opinion that we need to see more

before we know exactly what’s going to

happen. It might just be a flash in the pan. We

know that it’s there — let’s just keep an eye on

it for a bit, then we can judge. Until the next

generation have come through, we don’t know

what’s going to happen.”

About those young players: do you see

differences in cricketers coming through the

system today due to the introduction of

Twenty20 at the highest levels?

“Yes, one part of it is that fitness levels have

moved on. Players are stronger, fitter and

work harder than before. To be a good

Twenty20 cricketer, you’ve got to be physically

dynamic. Also, a lot more players are good

at all three aspects in that they bat, field and

can bowl a few overs if needed.”

You’ve always been an attack-minded

batsman, so how much did you have to

alter your own approach?

“I did have to adjust. Batting in the power

plays, you have to work out a method of

scoring. You’re now looking to score 60 or 70

in the first six overs. How are you going to do

that? You’re not going to do that by batting for

three or four overs and then trying to slog it:

you’ve got to be very dominant from the first

or second over. You have to let the inhibitions

of the game go without trying to worry too

much about the outcome.”

There’s been a lot of debate over how much

20-over cricket is played at domestic level.

Some critics have suggested

there’s too much next season.

“Well, we need the Twenty20

structure because it’s so important

in generating money for each

county. At Somerset, we are greatly

in need of as many games as

possible, because we sell out every

week. Even when we have the three

games in a week, we get amazing

crowds. I might be slightly biased,

because I realise the importance of

Somerset skipper Marcus ‘Banger’ Trescothick tells us why there’s now a lot more brains behind Twenty20 – but then adds that he still wants to see a cricket ball in a car park

“PeoPle want to See

the Ball flying. they

want to See Kieron

Pollard SmaShing it

out the ground and

landing it in the river”

38 | August 24 2012 |

Friends Life t20 Finals Day

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Four teams: one trophy We look at how the counties are shaping up for the Friends Life t20 Finals Day

T he Sharks home in on Finals Day

as narrow

favourites, and

if Yorkshire’s bowlers

can hear the Jaws

music score playing in

their heads, it’s with

good reason. Even if you can get through the

Sussex openers of Chris Nash and Luke Wright

(no mean feat, as the pair have more than 500 runs

between them in the competition so far), Matt

Prior, Murray Goodwin and Scott Styris lurk just

after. As well as the awesome batting firepower,

the Sussex bowling attack is rich in variety. In

left-arm seamer Chris Liddle, the Sharks have the

highest wicket-taker (15) of any of the bowlers

likely to play in Finals Day. This is the team to beat.

Key man: scott styris

Produced the individual highlight of an excellent

set of quarter finals as he boomed nine sixes

in smiting 100 not out from 37 balls (the

third-fastest Twenty20 century ever) to destroy

Gloucestershire’s attack. Yorkshire’s tight

bowling has been a strength throughout the 2012

Friends Life t20 so far, but the crisp striking of

the veteran former New Zealand international

can rip the game away from any attack. Fast.

It might be a first ever appearance at Finals Day for this famed

old cricket county,

but you wouldn’t have

guessed that from the

serene progress so far,

topping their group

before easing past Worcestershire in the

quarter finals. The highlight of that match was

a fluid 65 by the talented 21-year-old Joe Root;

Michael Vaughan comparisons abound for the

England Lion, who is joined by big hitters in

23-year-old South African David Miller and Gary

Ballance, 22. If Yorkshire can gain revenge for

their final-ball defeat to Sussex in last Saturday’s

CB40 loss, a lot rests on that gifted, youthful trio

of batsmen matching the opposition big guns.

Key man: ryan sidebottom

Tim Bresnan being allowed to play in Finals Day is

welcome news for Yorkshire, particularly as the

competition’s top wicket-snaffler, Mitchell Starc,

is unavailable. Given this, the experience of Ryan

Sidebottom is crucial. He knows how to perform

on the biggest stage, bowling superbly in the final

when England won the World Twenty20 in 2010

(pictured). The Krusty the Clown lookalike has

some big shoes to fill, but has the class to do it.

E ven Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier gave

each other a

year or two off before

finishing their trilogy.

Yet Hampshire meet

Somerset for a third

consecutive Finals Day

to hit seven bells out of

each other again. The Royals won by the tightest

of margins in 2010, before losing in a Super Over

to Somerset in 2011. The gap between the pair is

narrower than Victoria Beckham, and Hampshire

will be hoping that South African Neil McKenzie —

who finally burst into Twenty20 form with a

terrific 79 knock in the quarter finals — can give

them batting impetus, ably assisted by another

overseas veteran in Australia’s Simon Katich.

Key man: dimitri mascarenhas

As with Yorkshire, Hampshire’s side have a hole

in it thanks to an absent Aussie. Glenn Maxwell

is on international duty, so responsibility will fall

on the shoulders of all-rounder and Twenty20

specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas. The piratical IPL

regular will do his utmost to restrict with the

ball and provide lower-order smashing. He’s a

big-game player — and this is his perfect setting.

It’s the fourth time in a row that Somerset

have made it to

the final day of the

major Twenty20

domestic cup in

county cricket,

and the team

are heartily sick of being the bridesmaid. They

have injury worries ahead of Saturday,

however – in particular South African

paceman Alfonso Thomas, struggling

with a hamstring niggle. The batting

remains as deep as it is excellent

though, with Marcus Trescothick,

six-blaster Richard Levi and James

Hildreth among many danger men.

Key man: Jos buttler

Most dangerous of all could

be the aggressive, clean-

hitting Jos Buttler. He did

not excel when given an

early England chance,

but the 21-year-old

is a glorious talent

capable of shining at

the highest levels.

Sussex v Yorkshire 11am, Hampshire v Somerset 2.30pm,

Final 7pm | SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff | Sky Sports 1 10.30am

| 39

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40 | August 24 2012 |

Old wOlf , new tricks

Saturday

Carnegie Challenge Cup

Final: Leeds Rhinos v

Warrington Wolves |

Wembley Stadium |

BBC One 2.30pm

12

Adrian Morley

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Seconds played when Morley was sent off in a 2003 Ashes

game against Australia, after forearming Robbie Kearns in the

face. “I’m afraid Adrian Morley has started with a negative!”

screamed Mike ‘Stevo’ Stephenson up in the commentary box.

“Robbie Kearns is in Disneyland!” Definitely worth a YouTube.

his Leeds counterpart Jamie Peacock (35 in

December) is no spring chicken either — but it

is impossible not to notice the enthusiasm

that makes him sound like a kid half his age.

“This year I’ve had a bad back, some nerve

pains down my arm and then another problem

with my eye that needed a small operation,”

he reveals. “But I still absolutely love the

game. I love the collision, the thrill of the

challenge, so I’m going to carry on as long as

my body’s allowing me to. That’s half the

battle, getting your body right for the week

after, because it does take a bit of a bashing.

But the sport is now as professional as it’s

ever been, and a lot of strides have been

made in terms of recovery...”

By ‘recovery’, Morley is partly referring

to the dreaded ice bath — five minutes up to

your neck in a wheelie bin full of ice-cold

water, which brings down your body

temperature and soothes your bumps and

bruises. We ask one of rugby league’s

most notorious hardmen what such an

experience feels like.

“Not very nice,” he smiles. “It absolutely

takes your breath away when you get in.

And yeah, I’m pretty much used to them now;

I know it helps so I brave it, but when they

first came on the scene I always used to

hide away, to be honest. I’d run away

like a scared cat.”

After a couple of Morley specials at

Wembley tomorrow afternoon, don’t be

surprised if one or two Leeds Rhinos are

doing much the same thing.

Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

Adrian Morley’s autobiography, Moz, will be

released in November 2012, published by

Vision Sports Publishing

When Leeds and Warrington step on to the Wembley turf to face off in a repeat of the

2010 Challenge Cup final

tomorrow, one man will be

able to look beyond his modern surroundings,

to a time when the skyline was interrupted

by the iconic twin towers of yesteryear.

That man is Adrian Morley, 35-year-old

Warrington forward and the last Super

League survivor of the Leeds Rhinos team

that won the Challenge Cup back in 1999.

“That was the very last final at the old

Wembley before she got demolished,” he

recalls. “I have great memories of that day

though, it’s still very vivid. The old ground

had had its day, but it still had a really

nostalgic feel about it and I was really

pleased to play there. The final was against

the London Broncos, but it had been hard

enough getting there; we’d had to beat

Wigan, St Helens and Bradford along the

way, and when London went 10-0 up we

feared we’d done all the hard work only

to then throw it away in the final. But we

fought back to lead 12-10 at half time, and

then in the second half we went on to really

put a score [52-16] on them. I remember it

like it were yesterday.”

Morley has since gone on to feature in

three more Challenge Cup finals: he was still

part of the Leeds team that failed to retain

the cup against Bradford Bulls at Murrayfield

in 2000, before captaining his current club to

successive victories at the new Wembley in

2009 and 2010. He would dearly love to make

it a hat-trick in 2012, but understands just

how badly the Rhinos want to end their own

run of cup final defeats.

“Yeah, Leeds will be desperate,” he says.

“I mean, the team I played for in 1999 was

the last Rhinos side to win the cup. I think

they’ve had five attempts since then and

they’ve not won one. This will be their third

trip to Wembley in as many years, though, so

they have plenty of experience and will be

going down desperate for the win.”

SHorn of MaguireIf the Rhinos are to get that win, however,

they will have to do so without the talismanic

Danny McGuire. The half-back misses

tomorrow’s showpiece with a knee injury

suffered in a recent Super League win over

Widnes, but Morley rejects any notion that

Warrington welcomed the news with a smile.

“Players don’t think like that at all,” he

stresses. “These guys are your peers, and

everyone knows what it’s like to be injured;

it’s not very nice at all, and I know Danny

personally from international duty. He’s a

great lad, and we would rather play against

the strongest Leeds side anyway. You don’t

go around wishing anyone an injury, because

the stronger the side you face the more

satisfaction you get if you do get the victory.

My heart goes out to Danny — it’s really

unfortunate for him.”

Big-gaMe rHinoSDespite their recent run of losses in

Challenge Cup finals, Leeds can find

inspiration from a whole host of big-game

performances in recent Super League

campaigns — not least last season’s shock

semi-final win over tomorrow’s opponents

in their own back yard. That result deprived

Warrington of a maiden appearance in the

Grand Final — something Morley, a veteran of

Bradford Bulls’ 2005 championship-winning

side, felt as keenly as any.

“Yeah, that really hurt,” he admits. “We had

the best attack in the league, and the best

defence, and we’d been blowing teams away

all season really. We were totally on top of

our game, had won the league leaders’ shield

and thought it was going to be our year. But

that’s sport — if you don’t get it right on the

night, you’ll be found out. Leeds came with

a great gameplan and did a job on us. It was

disappointing to fail at the final hurdle, and

not getting to [the Grand Final at] Old

Trafford was pretty heartbreaking, but I think

it’s given us a little bit more resolve and

desire to go one better this year.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the

Challenge Cup over the last few years,

and that’s been an absolute pleasure and

whirlwind to be involved with. But we think

we have the squad to compete for all the

major trophies now. The Challenge Cup is

an incredible tournament in its own right,

but I think the boys want the Grand Final

now as well. We definitely have the desire

to go and do both.”

Having signed a contract extension that

will see him playing at least another year at

Warrington, Morley has committed to facing

the intense physical demands of Super

League rugby at the venerable age of 36. He

is quick to point out that Steve Menzies of the

Catalan Dragons is still going at 38, and that

Adrian Morley may be the oldest man running out at Wembley for tomorrow’s Challenge Cup final against Leeds Rhinos — but, as the Warrington legend told Sport, the game won’t be seeing the back of this particular hardman any time soon

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7 DaysAUG 24-AUG 30

HIGHLIGHTS

» Football: Premier League Round-Up » p44

» Football: Bundesliga & Serie A » p46

» Athletics: Diamond League, Birmingham » p48

» Rugby Union: New Zealand v Australia » p48

» Cricket: England v South Africa: 1st ODI » p50OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

42 | August 24 2012 |

Monday > TENNIS | US OPEN | FLUSHING MEADOWS, NEW YORK | SKY SPORTS 2 4PM

If the absence of Rafael Nadal from the Olympic tennis tournament was disappointing, the

announcement that his knees are to keep

him away from the final Grand Slam event of

the year in New York was altogether more

worrying. Despite the insistence of Uncle

Toni (also his coach) that he’s optimistic of a

return for Spain’s Davis Cup tie against the

USA in September, it’s clear the tendonitis in

Nadal’s knee joints is becoming increasingly

difficult to manage. So the big four become

three at Flushing Meadows, with Andy Murray

arriving as the tournament’s third seed.

Although, unless he’s taken his Team GB kit

with him to New York, there might not be too

much hope for that first Grand Slam title

coming next month — for the Olympic champ

seems to have lost a little of his verve.

After recording an emotional victory over

world number one Roger Federer to win gold,

Murray flew straight to Canada to begin his

US Open preparations at the Toronto Masters.

He got as far as the third round before pulling

out with a sore knee, but looked to have

recovered in Cincinnati last week. Until the

third round again, where he lost to Frenchman

Jeremy Chardy — a player he’d beaten in all

four of their previous meetings. While Murray

was licking his wounds, Federer was quietly

winning his fifth Cincinnati title by beating

Novak Djokovic last Sunday. He might have

turned 31 earlier this month, but Federer

has won six ATP Tour titles this year and is

guaranteed to stay top of the rankings beyond

the US Open, no matter how events transpire.

The women’s tournament will once again

revolve around Serena Williams, whose

19-match winning streak, which included title

wins at Wimbledon and London 2012, was

finally broken in Cincinnati last week. The

30-year-old world number four lost in the

quarter finals to eventual runner-up

Angelique Kerber, but brushed the defeat off.

Should they meet again in New York, she

added, she would “try to be ready for her”.

And then there were three

44 | August 24 2012 |

7 Days

Title-winning teams, history tells us, have a

very useful habit of winning games when they

don’t play very well. Teams who haven’t won

any league titles for 20 years or more, by

contrast, seem to be able to play well for

half-hour spells before imploding miserably

in front of their new manager.

Which brings us to the final game of this

Premier League weekend — and also the

most interesting, not least because if results

elsewhere go against them, Liverpool could

kick off their home campaign looking up at

every other team in the division. Welcome

to Anfield indeed, Brendan.

In truth, the success or failure of Brendan

Rodgers’ reign at Liverpool will be judged on

much more than last Saturday’s disastrous

capitulation at the Hawthorns (a ground on

which the Reds had won on 10 of their previous

11 visits). But the Northern Irishman, who

spoke particularly well in the aftermath of

said defeat, would surely have preferred a

slightly gentler fixture from which to seek a

maiden Premier League win with his new club.

On the evidence of his side’s shaky display

without him, Rodgers would also have liked

to have Dan Agger available at the heart of

his defence for Sunday’s visit of Manchester

City. The Dane, an alleged target for City

manager Roberto Mancini over the summer,

was the recipient of a softish red card

against West Brom and will miss the

game through suspension. Rodgers has a

decision to make over who to start alongside

Martin Skrtel (who committed to a new deal

earlier in the week), with Jamie Carragher

starting to look considerably older than his

age and the giant Sebastian Coates still

representing something of a risk.

Whoever gets the nod probably won’t have

to deal with Sergio Aguero, who hobbled off

early against Southampton last week, but

they will have to cope with a fitter-looking

Carlos Tevez, the rampaging Yaya Toure and

the guileful probings of Samir Nasri. The

Frenchman (above) rarely impressed in his

first season at the Etihad and had a fraught

summer with his national side, but one very

tidy assist and the winner in City’s 3-2 victory

last week suggest better things are on the

horizon this time round. Mancini will expect

better in general from his side at Anfield,

where a potentially nervous crowd may not

help Luis Suarez’s ongoing quest to put away

even a fraction of the chances he creates, or

indeed Stewart Downing’s continued search

for any kind of quality at all. The Sky cameras

could be in for an interesting afternoon.

Sunday liverpool v Man City | anfield | Sky SportS 1 4pM

Feeling blue

Saturday ChelSea v newCaStle | StaMford bridge |

eSpn 5.30pM

Anyone remember this fixture from last season? A Wednesday evening

in early May, and it looked to be the night when Chelsea’s Champions

League qualification dream died at the hands of party poopers

Newcastle United. It was also the night on which Papiss Cisse scored

the most remarkable goal of a remarkable season, smashing a

swerving, scything shot past the helpless and helmeted Petr Cech.

The Senegalese striker (above, left) hasn’t actually scored for the

Magpies since, so arrives at the scene of his spectacular crime on a

three-game (that’s right, three-game) goal drought. As for Chelsea...

well, they managed Champions League qualification in the end (right

through the Rafa Benitez Back Door) — and, assuming they avoided

defeat to Reading on Wednesday (we went to press before that

game), go into this game top. Five months is a long time in football.

Saturday SwanSea v weSt haM | liberty StadiuM |

Sky SportS 2 12.45pM

There were some standout performances on the first weekend of the new Premier League season, but right at the top of that impressive tree sat

Michael Laudrup. He may remain one of the game’s greatest ever

players, but football is all about the here and now — and the Dane’s

spectacular first competitive game in charge of Swansea, that 5-0

stoving in of a desperate QPR, couldn’t really have gone any better.

That Laudrup’s stylish barnet moved not an inch, and his forehead

displayed not a bead of sweat, in 35-degree heat on the Loftus Road

touchline only added to the legend of his team’s display, in which new

signing Michu (above) gave an indication of why Joe Allen won’t be

overly missed at the Liberty Stadium this term. The Spaniard will

receive a rapturous reception in south Wales tomorrow, where the

Swans host West Ham — another 100 per cent team, lest we forget.

Premier League Week two of the new season, and already it’s bubbling up rather nicely – not for everyone though, eh Brendan?

saturday southampton v

Wigan | st mary’s | 3pm

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saturday sunderland v

reading | stadium of light | 3pm

saturday tottenham v West

brom | White hart lane | 3pm

sunday stoke v arsenal |

britannia stadium |

sky sports 1 1.30pm

saturday norWich v qpr | carroW road | 3pm saturday aston villa v

everton | villa park | 3pm

saturday man utd v fulham |

old trafford | 3pm

“Not a good day for us,” was tyro Norwich manager Chris Hughton’s assessment of his side’s 5-0 humping away at

Fulham last week — which, in terms of stating the bloody

obvious, proves he very much belongs at the top table of

English football. Thankfully for Hughton, Holt, Hoolahan and

Co, the Canaries have swift opportunity for redemption on

their own patch this week — against the only Premier League

side that managed to outperform them last weekend.

That means QPR, about whom Mark Hughes wasn’t

glowing with praise after their own 5-0 drubbing at home to

Swansea on Saturday. Defensive frailties abounded at Loftus

Road, where early-season optimism lasted approximately

eight minutes. They just can’t be as bad again... can they?

Bad news for Aston Villa ahead of their first home game of the new season

tomorrow — Everton have gone against

the habits of a Premier League lifetime

and hit the ground running.

David Moyes’ men were excellent in

seeing off a soft-centred Manchester

United on Monday, Marouane Fellaini

(above) a huge-haired monster playing

off Nikica Jelavic up front. Expect more

of the same against Villa, who looked as

toothless as they were tidy in defeat to

West Ham a week ago.

Expect a home debut for Robin van Persie after his new United teammates drew a

blank at Goodison on Monday night. The

Dutchman (above) made little impact

as a second-half substitute against

Everton, but should start alongside

Wayne Rooney against a Fulham team

buoyed by their cruel dismantling of

Norwich last week. With in-form

Cottagers striker Mladen Petric on the

prowl for more goals, Fergie will also

be hoping to start an actual centre half

alongside rusty captain Nemanja Vidic.

Southampton were so good in defeat against Manchester City last Sunday that

many will fancy them to get off the

Premier League mark at home to Wigan

tomorrow. Football’s a funny old game

though, so the common wisdom goes,

and Wigan were better in defeat at

home to Chelsea than a 2-0 reversal

suggested. Assuming Roberto Martinez

has taught new recruit Ivan Ramis

(above) how to defend in the first five

minutes of a game, the visitors may

just fancy their chances here.

Two sides that will look back on their Premier League openers with a measure

of satisfaction clash in one of the more

low-key fixtures of the weekend.

Sunderland were resolute in earning

a point from a difficult trip to the

Emirates on Saturday, but back on

home turf the likes of James McClean

(above) and Stephane Sessegnon

can expect more freedom to attack.

Reading deserved the late point they

rescued at home to Stoke, but won’t

find life easy away from the Madejski.

An early end to the honeymoon for Andre Villas-Boas (above) at Tottenham, beaten

as they were by pushy Alan Pardew and

Newcastle in the late game last Saturday.

The new Spurs chief can now call upon

the services of Emmanuel Adebayor,

signed for £5m on Tuesday, and will be

eager to notch a first win as soon as

possible. Steve Clarke’s reign at West

Brom started much more promisingly,

much as they were helped by shambolic

Liverpool defending and a generous

referee, but this will be tougher.

Just what Arsene Wenger wanted after a frustrating goalless draw at the Emirates

to begin the season — an away game

against a team managed by his old mate

Tony Pulis. The Stoke boss won’t have

been happy at letting two points slip

away at Reading last weekend, but he

loves nothing more than getting his

men wound up for a fixture such as

this. We give it five minutes max before

Robert Huth (above) is ‘welcoming’

Santi Cazorla to Premier League life

away from north London.

Shots taken by QPR

against Swansea last

weekend — the same

as Man City managed

against Southampton

and more than any

other team in the

Premier League

| 45

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7 Days

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“We’ve learned over the last couple of years not to doubt Dortmund. They have

a very functional squad with one of

the best coaches in Europe in Jurgen

Klopp. He’s young, dynamic and he gets

Dortmund playing the way he wants,

with a high tempo and the emphasis

on youth. Most of us would be very

surprised if Dortmund are not there or

thereabouts come the end of the year.

“Bayern were very unlucky last

season — we could have been talking

about a Bayern Munich treble, but they

didn’t end up winning anything. They’re

still strong on paper — I don’t think

there’s an awful lot that has to be done.

“It’s hard to separate the two of

them — Dortmund have got the wind at

their backs because they know they

can do it and there’s a winning

FRIDAY FOOTBALL | BundesLigA: BOrussiA dOrTmund v

Werder Bremen | WesTFALensTAdiOn | esPn 7.45Pm

Continental kick-offs

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

With the Bundesliga and Serie A seasons both kicking off this weekend, we asked two European experts for their views on the seasons to come in Germany and Italy

Derek Rae, ESPN’s European football expert

mentality about the squad. Also,

players like Robert Lewandowski,

Lukasz Piszczek and especially Jakub

Blaszczykowski have got better –

and they’ve added Marco Reus, who

is probably one of the most gifted

players in German football. Bayern

still represent a threat and they will

always have the spending power that

other clubs in Germany don’t have,

so it promises to be a fascinating

competition between those two...

and then we’ll see if anybody can get

in on the action as well.

“Sometimes we can be surprised

with somebody coming from nowhere.

Borussia Monchengladbach were the

surprise package last season, but I’m

not sure they can do it again. Schalke

are good to watch and might be in

touch for a little while, and Bayer

Leverkusen have steadied the ship

under Sami Hyypia. I do think Dortmund

and Bayern will have the edge though.”

ESPN has live and exclusive coverage of the

Bundesliga this season. Visit ESPNFC.com

“Antonio Conte (suspended for a year due to the latest matchfixing scandal) will

still be able to work during the week,

but he won’t manage Juventus on game

day and that’s bound to affect them.

They’re still waiting to make that big

signing up front that they promised,

but I still think Juve are ahead.

“AC Milan need to strengthen —

they need a central defender, having

effectively lost two in Alessandro

Nesta and Thiago Silva. They’ll be

competitive, but in terms of quality

they’re not at the level they were last

season. Whoever they choose to bring

in will be telling. They’re saying they’re

going with youth and cutting costs and

so on, but then they’re being linked

with Kaka – which simply doesn’t

make any sense.

SATURDAY FOOTBALL | serie A: JuVenTus v PArmA | JuVenTus

sTAdium | esPn 7.45Pm

Gabriele Marcotti, world football correspondent for The Times and a contributor to ESPN

“Inter have also made deep cuts in

terms of wages. The main thing is going

to be this experiment with Andrea

Stramaccioni [new head coach] – he’s

still very young, only 36. How will he

cope with things when they don’t work?

“There’s a lot of uncertainty there,

and a lot will depend on what kind of

Wesley Sneijder shows up, because he

is the game-changer. The challenge for

them is going to be to tap Sneijder’s

enthusiasm and get him to believe

that they can still be competitive.

“Napoli have only lost Ezequiel

Lavezzi, but you feel like they moved

him on at the right time. They probably

could have done more to strengthen

the back line, but I think they’re

definitely in the running for Champions

League qualification.

“I think Juve will win it, but if you’re

looking at it from a betting perspective

there’s tremendous value in backing

either Napoli or Roma.”

ESPN has live and exclusive coverage of

Serie A this season. Visit ESPNFC.com

THERE

WAS

NEVER

JUST

ONE

BOURNE LEGACYTHE

JEREMY

RENNERRACHEL

WEISZEDWARD

NORTON

IN CINEMAS NOW

© 2012 UNIVERSAL STUDIOSWWW.THEBOURNELEGACY.CO.UK /THEBOURNELEGACYUK

12ACONTAINSMODERATE VIOLENCE12ACONTAINSMODERATE VIOLENCE

48 | August 24 2012 |

7 Days

Saturday Rugby union | Rugby Championship: new Zealand v austRalia | eden paRk, auCkland | sky spoRts 1 8.35am

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It’s on Sunday afternoon as opposed to Saturday evening, and it’s in the Midlands

rather than east London, but the Aviva

Birmingham Grand Prix is set to bring that

gold rush feeling flooding back this weekend.

They might have been all over your TV

since leaving the Olympic village behind,

but Team GB’s athletes have apparently

still been in some sort of training.

And so, at the Alexander Stadium this

weekend, Olympic long jump champion Greg

Rutherford (pictured) will compete for the

first time since taking gold on Super

Saturday. He’ll face stiff competition

from triple jump Olympic champ Christian

Taylor, whose personal best in the long

jump is an impressive 8.19m.

With a capacity of around 12,700, the

crowd noise at Alexander Stadium won’t

quite match up to the Olympic Stadium –

which perhaps explains why double Olympic

gold-medallist Mo Farah is just running a

quick two-miler on Sunday. Those members

of Team GB who didn’t come away with a

medal will still arrive in Birmingham looking

for a lift, however. And for the likes of

Christine Ohuruogu, who came so close to

glory in Stratford, a good run in the last

Diamond League meet of the season on home

soil will help ease her disappointment at

leaving London with only silver.

Elsewhere, high jump bronze-medallist

Robbie Grabarz will come face to face with

the crazy Russian who won gold at London

2012 (once he found his competition vest,

that is), Ivan Ukhov. Back on the track, Adam

Gemili puts his raw pace to the test over

200m, while Perri Shakes-Drayton will be

doing her best to put the disappointment of

not making the Olympic final far behind her

in the 400m hurdles.

Sunday athletiCs | diamond league: biRmingham | alexandeR stadium | bbC one 1.30pm

Second-chance Sunday

Week two of the Rugby Championship, and it’s

time for the Aussies and the Pumas to get

their own back in the return fixtures from

week one. At least, that’s the plan.

In reality, the Aussies face an even tougher

task this week, with injury victim David

Pocock missing from a squad which, having

been turned over 27-19 on home turf last

week, must now travel to the world

champions’ back yard. The Wallabies huffed

and puffed in Sydney last week, but each

time a door opened, they proceeded to slam it

in their own face with a dropped ball or

misjudged kick — see Scott Higginbotham’s

fumble with the try line at his mercy. The good

news is that Will Genia looked lively, the pack

caused problems when they upped the pace,

and Quade Cooper could be back — could he

provide the X factor to beat the All Blacks?

The problem for Australia, though, is New

Zealand barely got out of second gear. While

the pack were exposed once or twice — and

Pocock’s absence could see an end to that —

Dan Carter was imperious, while Cory Jane

and Israel Dagg (pictured) cut the Aussies to

pieces. All eyes were on Sonny Bill Williams

and Ma’a Nonu, but the All Blacks used them

as dummy runners to glorious effect. Expect

the centres to be more involved this week.

Later in the day, history will be made

(again!) when Argentina welcome South

Africa to Mendosa for their first Rugby

Championship home game (Sky Sports 4,

8.10pm). The Pumas will rely heavily on

home advantage as they seek to avenge

last week’s 27-6 defeat, when they

focused too much on the boot and were

blown away by Springbok power.

Revenge missions

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50 | August 24 2012 |

7 Days

Friday CriCket | england v South afriCa: 1St odi | Sophia gardenS, Cardiff | Sky SportS 1 10.15aM

England lead South Africa at the top of the

ICC one-day international rankings by a tiny

margin (one sixth of a point, fraction fans),

but it won’t be this stat that gives the home

nation’s cricketers renewed confidence as

the five-match ODI series starts today.

Rather, that would be the 10 consecutive

ODI matches England have won in 2012. It’s

a remarkable run and a sign of how captain

Alastair Cook has gone about his task with

quiet assurance. Even the hullabaloo over

the absence of his former opening partner

Kevin Pietersen has been dealt with, so far,

with Ian Bell impressing as a replacement.

The smarting sixth-of-a-point inferiority

notwithstanding, South Africa will be

buoyed by their Test series victory. The

Fine margins

Full ODI FIxturesSeCond odi:

Tuesday auguSt

28 (Sky SportS 1

12.30pM)

third odi: Friday

auguSt 31 (Sky

SportS 1 12.30pM)

fourth odi:

sunday

SepteMber 2 (Sky

SportS 2 10aM)

fifth odi:

Wednesday

SepteMber 5 (Sky

SportS 2 1.30pM)

323England’s highest ODI total

against South Africa, recorded

during the 2009 Champions

Trophy – when they beat

Graeme Smith’s side by 22 runs

to reach the semi finals and

send South Africa crashing out

same qualities that make them a formidable

Test side — a hostile yet accurate pace

attack, faultless batting and sharp fielding

— also mark out AB de Villiers’ team as

a superb one-day unit. Their confidence

will make them doubly difficult to beat.

To do so, England will have to be at their

best, and that means the onus is once again

on the batsmen to prove they can perform

as well as their bowlers – something they

have failed to do this summer.

Cook may not be a destructive shotmaker

in the style of the deliciously promising

Jonny Bairstow, but he does have mental

strength in abundance. If his team can feed

off that, then this series should be far, far

closer than the Tests turned out to be.

Or at least it should be. Last weekend’s race in

Indianapolis confirmed our longstanding suspicion

that MotoGP riders are clinically insane. Dani

Pedrosa eased to a comfortable win ahead of

championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, which should

have heralded the start of a two-horse race after

Casey Stoner’s qualifying crash.

In his own words: “I looked down and saw my foot

was at a strange angle to my leg. I had a shooting

pain in my lower leg, then I felt a crack as my ankle

popped back in.” Still, nothing too serious if you’re

a MotoGP rider – the Australian was on his bike the

next day, with his injured foot encased in a specially

constructed boot.

His fourth-place finish means he’s still in

touching distance of the top two as the series

returns to Europe, and Brno in the Czech Republic.

It’s a high-speed circuit, with plenty of elevation

changes to challenge the riders, and it should

make for another thrilling race.

| 51

Czech mate...

Helly Hansen

catwalk

Helly Hansen beauty

and tHe beast

a 26.2 mulit-lap trail maratHon

cHallenge for induviduals and teams

22nd september 2012, stonor park,

Henley-on-tHames. sign up and join us

on tHe Helly Hansen catwalk at www.

HellyHansenbeautyandtHebeast.co.uk

FRIDAY

HORSE RACING

Coolmore Nunthorpe

Stakes, York

Racecourse, Channel 4 3.40pm

FOOTBALL

Championship: Bolton v Nottingham

Forest, Reebok Stadium,

Sky Sports 1 7.30pm

FOOTBALL MLS: Philadelphia Union v

Real Salt Lake, PPL Park,

ESPN 12.30am

SATURDAY

TRIATHLON ITU World Series:

Stockholm, BBC Red Button 11.30am

FOOTBALL SPL: Inverness v Celtic,

Caledonian Stadium, Sky Sports 4

12.45pm

FOOTBALL Championship: Watford

v Birmingham, Vicarage Road,

Sky Sports 2 5.20pm

TENNIS

WTA New Haven: Final, Yale University,

British Eurosport 8.30pm

FOOTBALL La Liga: Malaga v Mallorca,

La Rosaleda Stadium, Sky Sports 4 10pm

SUNDAY

MOTORSPORT World Superbikes:

Moscow, Moscow Raceway,

British Eurosport 2 8.30am

GOLF Johnnie Walker Championship:

Day 4, Gleneagles, Sky Sports 2 12pm

CYCLING Vuelta a Espana: Stage 9,

Andorra – Barcelona,

British Eurosport 3.15pm

GOLF The Barclays: Day 4, Bethpage

Black, New York,Sky Sports 2 5pm

FOOTBALL La Liga: Getafe v Real

Madrid, Coliseum Alfonso Perez,

Sky Sports 1 8pm

CRICKET ICC U19 World Cup: Final,

Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville,

Sky Sports 1 12.30am

MONDAY

MOTORSPORT British Superbikes:

Round 8, Cadwell Park,

British Eurosport 2 12.30pm

FOOTBALL

La Liga: Atletico Madrid v Athletic

Bilbao, Vicente Calderon,

Sky Sports 1 9pm

BASEBALL

MLB: Texas Rangers v Tampa Bay Rays,

Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex,

ESPN 1am

WEDNESDAY

FOOTBALL Champions League:

Celtic v Helsingborgs, Celtic Park,

Sky Sports 2 7.45pm

FOOTBALL Super Copa: Real Madrid v

Barcelona, Bernabeu, Sky Sports 3 9pm

THURSDAY

GOLF Omega Masters: Day 1,

Crans Montana, Switzerland,

Sky Sports 1 10.30am

FOOTBALL

Europa League: Liverpool v Hearts,

Anfield, ESPN 7.30pm

FOOTBALL Capital One Cup:

Northampton v Wolves, Sixfields

Stadium, Sky Sports 1 7.45pm

BEST OF THE REST

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

SUNDAY MOTOGP | ROUND 12: BRNO, CzECH REPUBLIC | BBC TWO 12.30PM

Extra time Kit

52 | August 24 2012 |

Making the most of your time and money

Strap on a pair

New signings, new shirts, new beginnings

— no, the best thing about the new season

is these. Go ahead, fill your, er, boots!

Making the most of your time and money

Adidas adiPure 11 ProSLWeighing in at a ridiculously

light 180g, this is the lightest

K-leather boot going. Even

better, the ultra-thin material

means your feel of the ball is

unparalleled, while the boot

comes miCoach-compatible so

you can track how far you’ve

run. If you really want to.

£175 | prodirectsoccer.com

Pantofola d’Oro LazzariniThe Italian brand continues to

make a mark in the footballing

world, and they’re back with

another classy-looking boot.

They’re probably not bright

enough for Cashley and pals,

but the handmade calf leather

beauties feel great on the foot

and are easy on the eye. We like!

£120 | prodirectsoccer.com

Puma evoSPEED 1The latest from Puma’s speed-

focused range. A microfibre

upper ensures the lightest boot

possible, while GripTex Print

ensures maximum control in

the wettest conditions. That

rainy Tuesday in Stoke suddenly

seems much more appealing! On

second thoughts, no it doesn’t.

£120 | puma.com

Adidas f50 adizero XTRXLightness is the name of the

game once again here, as a

restricted use of leather keeps

the weight down, while adidas’

patented Sprint Web design

provides increased stability

on the upper. They’re bloody

bright, though, so be ready

to back it up on the pitch.

£136 | prodirectsoccer.com

Umbro Speciali 3 Pro Available in a variety of colours,

Umbro’s offering is at the

cheaper end of the price scale

(£66 is cheap now? Honestly! –

ed) and boasts a stylish look.

Twelve forefoot blades and four

rear offer optimum traction,

while memory-foam inserts

ensure a comfy run about.

£66 | prodirectsoccer.com

Nike CTR 360 Maestri IIIThese are the boots worn by Mario Balotelli. Oh, you want more?

Fine. Nike’s latest bright beauties come with a 3D control pad and

asymmetrical lacing to enlarge the control area. Oh, and did we

mention they’re worn by Mario Balotelli? Well, it’s worth repeating.

£145 | nikestore.com

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54 | August 24 2012 |

Extra time Sophie Hellyer

Hell

With one of the best nicknames in surfing,

sport and, perhaps, ever, Sophie

‘Hell Yeah’ Hellyer is already right up

there on our list of favourite boardriders

– along with Kelly Slater and, of course, Gary Busey

in Point Break.

“It’s from Stone Cold Steve Austin – it was one of

his catchphrases when I was at school, and it’s just

stuck,” Hellyer tells Sport by way of explanation,

before excitedly delivering a rousing “Hell YEAH!”

of her own for emphasis.

The 25-year-old former British Schools Surfing

champion also happens to be a big fan of Call of Duty

and Alan Partridge, as well as playing right-back for

AFC Bideford Ladies in the Evo-Stik League Southern.

But surely our perfect girl has a dark side?

Well, the UK Pro Surf Tour website does feature a

picture of Hellyer with devils horns on her head. And

there’s a similar picture on her Twitter feed. Is this

a trademark, Sport wondered? Hellyer assures us

it’s not. “No!” she protests. “I’m an angel!” Do we

believe her? Hell, yeah we do.

And that’s the, er, bottom line. Why? Because

Sport said so.

Sophie Hellyer stars in Lynx’s first surf video, ‘Ride With

Me’, and launched its online treasure hunt for tickets to

the Caribbean’s Chaos Island. Facebook.com/lynxeffect

| 55

yeah!

Elemis freshskin

Patrick Bateman, Bret Easton Ellis’ fictional

serial killer and grooming obsessive, lived in

the American Gardens building on West

81st street in American Psycho.

Unfortunately, that building doesn’t

exist. Sport’s checked. What does

exist, however, is the Elemis

freshskin range — a collection

Bateman himself would have

been proud to use.

The Skin Clear Purifying Face

Wash’s antiseptic properties

detox your skin while promoting

healthy cell growth to repair damaged

tissue. White willow bark provides gentle

exfoliation, and cedarwood and cucumber

soothe the skin for an extreme clean.

The Skin Clear Treatment Gel reduces

blemishes without overdrying skin (because, as

Bateman would tell you, that can make you look

older). It’s formulated with salicylic acid, zinc

and vitamin A to cleanse pores and balance the

skin. The Overnight Serum, meanwhile, helps

minimise breakouts while you sleep.

Now, do you like Phil Collins?

timetospa.co.uk

Carolina Herrera 212 Men NYC

This body spray was, we are

assured, born from the “perfect

chemistry of combining the

essence of a young and urban

New York with the elegance

from the 212 universe”.

And, on this evidence, the

212 universe provides only

good things. The spray mixes

pink grapefruit and fresh

mint for a soft yet masculine

scent that will leave you with

a fresh, warm glow beneath

that crisply ironed shirt and

jumper draped over your

shoulders — and smelling classy

enough to hang out at the

New York Yacht Club.

Like Bateman’s professional

nemesis, Paul Allen, you don’t

need to own a yacht. You can

just hang out there.

houseoffraser.co.uk

Superdry Orange and Superdry Blue

A trendy bar Bateman would

approve of is the Gaslight Lounge

in the city’s Meatpacking District.

He could do worse than rock up there

wearing one of these new scents

from Superdry, with bottles designed

to look and feel like oversized

lighters. Orange is a spicy cluster

of black pepper, frankincense and

sandalwood crowned with the

sweetness of blood orange, making

for a distinctive, exotic scent.

The slightly subtler Blue features

blended notes of bergamot, pear,

clary sage and moss. Super.

superdry.com

56 | August 24 2012 |

Moving to New YorkThe US Open begins on Monday at Flushing

Meadows, so get your hands on this lot and

mix it with NYC’s finest. Have a nice day!

The collecTioN

The MoiSTURiSeRThe SpRaYThe fRagRaNceS

Extra time Grooming

£16.50 for 250ml

Both £39 for 75ml

£18 for 30ml

£12 for 100m

l

£12

for 15

ml

58 | August 24 2012 |

Hawk eyes

Violate the terms of your restraining

order from the skies without the police

finding out, plus the hottest Android gear

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 They’re locked in battle with

Apple in the courts, but

Samsung’s latest offering sees

them close the gap on the

shelves as well. The latest

Galaxy Tab has a 10.1” screen,

dual core processor, and runs

a tweaked version of Android’s

Ice Cream Sandwich flavour.

It could blow the iPad out of the

water — don’t tell the judge.

From £300 | pcworld.co.uk

2. Spy Hawk This remote-control plane is

almost as high-tech as a real

one, featuring a video system

that sends pictures back to the

remote, and an autopilot mode

that will keep the plane level in

the breeze throughout its 600m

range. Which is good, because

accuracy is all important when

you’re divebombing the

neighbours’ cat.

£250 | red5.co.uk

3. Fujifilm FinePix S4200 This is a ‘bridge‘ camera,

which means it‘s better than a

compact but not quite as good

as a DSLR. On the plus side, it‘s

a lot cheaper and doesn’t skimp

on features either, with a 14-

megapixel sensor, 24x optical

zoom and the ability to upload

pictures and videos to

Facebook straight from the

camera. (Who does this?)

£149 | fujifilm.eu/uk

4. LG Optimus 4X HDAnnounced earlier this year,

LG’s quad-core phone finally

hits the shops on Monday. Like

Samsung’s tablet (left), it runs

Android’s latest OS and boasts

plenty of processing power

– which you can put to use

through apps like SmartShare,

which allows you to easily

stream content to your TV.

Free on £26pm contract |

phones4u.co.uk

5. BeBook Pure eReader Basically a slightly cheaper

version of Amazon’s Kindle, it’s

actually thinner and lighter too,

and has the added advantage of

being able to open all popular

e-book formats. It can store

thousands of tomes and has an

SD slot for even more – and the

battery lasts for 12,000 page

views, meaning everything save

Dostoevsky should be fine.

£69 | mybebook.com

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

2

3 4

1

5

My Head is an Animal Of Monsters and Men

If you told Sport that your band combined fairytale

imagery and indie-folk tunes, we’d turn you upside

down over the toilet to deliver the mother of all

swirlies – but Icelandic six-piece Of Monsters and

Men have given us a fearsomely

catchy debut album. The dozen

songs are packed with crashing

drums, horns and sweeping pop

melodies. It’s like Arcade Fire,

but less portentous. Smashing.

The ImposterWhen a Texan family were told that

their boy Nicholas had been found

after being missing for three long

years, it sounds like a real-life

feelgood story. The title of this

layered docu-drama gives you a

big clue that it really isn’t. The fact

that their returning child isn’t

blonde, blue-eyed Nicholas but a

swarthy young man with a foreign

accent is just the tip of this murky

iceberg. Were the family who

accepted Nicholas 2.0 deluded by

their desperation to have ‘their’

boy back? Or is there a shadier

motive? An almost unbelievable

tale made into an unbelievably

mesmerising film, in cinemas now.

Sweet Tooth Ian McEwan

A beautiful university

student is recruited by

the intelligence service

and sent undercover to

charm an author in Ian

Atonement McEwan’s new

piece of wish fulfillment.

Sorry, we mean his new

novel. Expect suspense,

wit and more going on

than first meets the eye.

Dead in the Boot Elbow

One band to escape the

steaming cowpat that

was the London 2012

closing ceremony with

reputation intact, Elbow

release a collection of

their finest B-sides on

Monday. Our pick is the

gently melodic Lucky

With Disease, but the 13

tracks blend superbly

o create a harmonious

whole, held together

ably by Guy Garvey’s

rich, plaintive vocals.

Shadow Dancer

An IRA agent who’s also a young single mother is

coerced into spying on her family by MI5 operative

Clive ‘can I play James Bond yet?’ Owen in this

1993-set drama. Danger closes in from both sides

as Owen realises that –

despite his efforts to keep

her safe – his informer is

potentially a pawn in a far

murkier MI5 plan. A taut,

twisting thriller (out now).

The Walking Dead Season 2

So, you’re stuck in a zombie-infested world, your tiny

band of survivors is splintering into factions and your

pal Shane keeps on giving your wife Lori the pervert

stare when your back is turned. Life isn’t easy for

Rick Grimes (Brit Andrew Lincoln,

donning his deputy sheriff’s hat

and US accent to excel again), but

it makes for a high-quality horror-

drama. It’s a tad slower paced than

the first season, but is still gripping

– and the boxset arrives this

Monday, loaded with meaty extras.

60 | August 24 2012 |

FILM

Double cross

Spies, zombies and chameleonic conmen

abound – thankfully, our entertainment

preview has got your back covered

FILM

DVD

MUSIC BOOKMUSIC

Extra time Entertainment

Untitled-1 5 20/08/2012 13:17

Untitled-1 2 20/08/2012 13:16