French swimmer LAURE MANAUDOU announced she will "most likely" retire after the European Championships in November. The 26-year-old won the Gold Medal in the 400m freestyle at the Athens Games (LE COURRIER PICARD, 10/28). ... LIONEL MESSI "smashed through the 300-goal mark with a brace as Barcelona crushed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 in Madrid on Saturday." Messi's goals were the 300th and 301st of his career, a total made up of 270 for Barça and 31 for Argentina in only 419 matches (AFP, 10/28). ... AC Milan Owner SILVIO BERLUSCONI "has been found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion." Berlusconi "has also been banned from holding public office for three years in a case involving the acquisition of film and TV rights on behalf of Mediaset, the broadcaster he controls" (London GUARDIAN, 10/26). ... Belarus President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO "has fired his Sports Deputy IGOR ZAICHKOV and Sports Minister OLEG KACHAN following a 'disastrous showing' at the 2012 London Olympics." The axe on Zaichkov and Kachan came down two days after Lukashenko, who also serves as president of the Belarus Olympic Committee, blamed them for the country's "complete failure" in London (REUTERS, 10/28). ... ALBERTO SALAZAR, coach of Britain's double Olympic champion MO FARAH, said that Farah "could attempt a 10,000 metres-marathon double" at the 2016 Rio Games. Salazar said Farah, who will be 33 in four years, could have lost a "little speed" over the 5,000 by then (REUTERS, 10/26). ... British Olympic athletes TOM DALEY, REBECCA ADLINGTON, NICOLA ADAMS and LOUIS SMITH "will be taking part in a video for the annual TV fundraising extravaganza 'Children in Need.'" Paralympians DAVID WEIR and ELLIE SIMMONDS "are also taking part in the video, set to the BASEMENT JAXX track 'Do Your Thing'" (ITV.com, 10/28). ... Police "have arrested a man over the theft of two Olympic Bronze Medals from a London nightclub," which occurred shortly after British Olympians ALEX PARTRIDGE, a rower, and field hockey player HANNAH MACLEOD attended a reception" with Britain's QUEEN ELIZABETH (CNN.com, 10/28).
RACE WINS: MotoGP driver JORGE LORENZO has "clinched his second driver's world championship title with a second-place finish at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia." A second-place was enough to clinch the title "after championship rival DANI PEDROSA crashed out in lap two" (MOTORSPORT-TOTAL.com, 10/28). ... F1 champion SEBASTIAN VETTEL "knocked on the head speculation of a move to Ferrari in '14 by declaring his loyalty to Red Bull after winning the Indian Grand Prix on Sunday." Vettel said that "he wanted to reassure teammates that rumours had no substance." He said, "I'm 100% behind them (the team) as I feel they're 100% behind me, and therefore I want to get this straight. There's nothing to report, and I'm very happy at Red Bull Racing" (REUTERS, 10/28).
T-SHIRT SUPPORT: ManU player RIO FERDINAND "showed his support for the Kick It Out campaign by wearing a T-shirt, and he also buried the hatchet with England teammate ASHLEY COLE by shaking hands with him before the game." However, ASHLEY YOUNG did not wear a T-shirt -- the only ManU player "to snub the anti-racism body" (London DAILY MAIL, 10/28). The DAILY MAIL also noted that Chelsea player JOHN TERRY has backed Kick It Out in his program notes ahead of the game against ManU, "stressing the club's wish to banish all forms of discrimination from football" (DAILY MAIL, 10/28).
