Wallaby rugby player QUADE COOPER signed up to Australia's Rugby Sevens program and "is seeking a spot" on its Rio 2016 Olympic squad.
Australian Rugby said that the 27-year-old "will be released by his French club side Toulon for the Sydney, Paris and London legs" of the '15-16 HSBC Sevens World Series, and will then link up with the squad in Sydney ahead of the Olympics (REUTERS, 1/21). ... Olympic champion JESSICA ENNIS-HILL "believes the jury is out" on whether IAAF President SEBASTIAN COE "is the right man to lead reform" of the crisis-hit governing body and clean up athletics. Ennis-Hill: "He [Coe] has got a huge job on his hands and it's hard to say one way or the other at the minute. I think it's for him to start making the changes, and have time to do that, and then such decisions can be made after that. Time is definitely the test" (CITY AM, 1/22). ... MIKE CONWAY will be on the starting grid with the Venturi Formula E Team in Buenos-Aires on Feb. 4 for the next round of the Formula E Championship. Mike will join Venturi's driver STEPHANE SARRAZIN, who is already a teammate of Conway in the WEC's series. Conway will be replacing former Venturi driver JACQUES VILLENEUVE. The team and the driver have chosen by mutual agreement to end their collaboration initiated early in season two (Formula E). ... Former Australian cricket players JEFF THOMSON and WALLY GROUT will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the 2016 Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Wednesday. In other news, Bupa Support Staff Australia head coach DARREN LEHMANN has been hospitalized with Deep Vein Thrombosis. Lehmann reported a swollen left calf to the team medical staff ahead of the fifth Victoria Bitter ODI against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday and was immediately referred for a scan that revealed the issue (Cricket Australia). … Six Giant-Alpecin riders “have been taken to hospital after being struck by a car driven by a British woman while training in southern Spain.” All the casualties are said to be in a "stable condition.” German rider JOHN DEGENKOLB “suffered a partially detached finger and forearm fracture.” WARREN BARGUIL, CHAD HAGA and MAX WALSCHEID “also suffered fractures” (BBC, 1/24). … Former Chelsea Manager JOSE MOURINHO’s agent has responded to claims his client wrote a six-page letter to ManU “outlining his suitability for the manager’s job.” The 52-year-old, who was sacked last month, composed the document detailing his desire to replace LOUIS VAN GAAL at Old Trafford and “his willingness to adhere to the club’s principals.” But his agent, JORGE MENDES described the assumption Mourinho was “offering [his] services” as “absolutely ridiculous” (London INDEPENDENT, 1/24). ... Former ManU CEO DAVID GILL admitted that “it has been a season of underachievement” at Old Trafford and that the club’s hierarchy expected more from their significant outlay during the last transfer window.
Gill: “Clearly we all hoped the results would be better and we are all disappointed with that. Undoubtedly it has been a season of underachievement given the investment that was made in the summer" (LONDON TIMES, 1/24). ... NBA Dallas Mavericks player DIRK NOWITZKI on Sunday announced his retirement from int'l competition for Germany.
Nowitzki: "The last match at Euro 2015 was my last match for Germany." His retirement announcement "came a few days after the International Basketball Federation announced that Germany had failed in a bid to stage one of the Olympic qualifying tournaments this year" (AFP, 1/24). ... Scotland rugby head coach VERN COTTER has appointed defensive contact specialist RICHIE GRAY on a consultancy basis for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship. Gray joints the Scotland set-up following a three-season spell as South Africa's specialist breaksown coach (RBS 6 Nations).
