Athletics
Mo Farah broke a 34-year-old British record at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on June 5 to underline his form with the Rio Olympics exactly two months away.
The Briton dedicated his victory to his hero Muhammad Ali, the boxing great who died on June 4, aged 74.
“I just want to wish his family well. He was someone I looked up to and someone we’ve missed. That’s for him for sure”.
Farah broke Dave Moorcrofts 3,000 metres best, which was set in 1982. But Farah had to dig deep, pushing on when he thought it was beyond him and producing a driving last lap of 59 seconds when his arms were pumping as hard as in an Olympic or world final.
It was enough – just. Farah’s time was 7min 32:62sec – 0.17sec inside Moorcrofts record.
Farah followed the pacemakers through the first 2,000m before hanging on over the last 600m to take a tenth of a second off that long-standing mark.
His seven minutes 32.62 seconds means he now holds the British track records at 1500m, two miles, 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m, as well as half-marathon on the road.
Gymnastics
European Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships – Bern/Switzerland ( June 1 -5):
Russia recaptured the senior Women’s European Team title on June 5. The Russians had finished second to Great Britain the previous day in qualification but added 2 points to their team total to top the British by just under 5 points, 175.212 to 170.312. France took the bronze with 168.496.
Aliya Mustafina once again stepped up as team leader, turning in the top score on balance beam (14.800, tied with Melnikova) and second-best score on uneven bars (15.333). World uneven bars champion Daria Spiridonova, who missed a connection in qualification, nailed her routine this time for 15.366.
Seda Tutkhalyan, who substituted for an injured Maria Paseka, once again fell off balance beam but hit vault and floor exercise. Mustafina, though clearly not fully recovered from last year’s knee surgery, turned in a decent third score on floor clinch the title for Russia.
Tennis
Player Tracker – French Open, (May 16 – June 5):
Men’s Singles: [Round 1] S Darcis (BEL) def Marsel Ilhan (TUR): 6 – 3, 6 – 4, 6 – 0. J Sousa (POR) def Damir Dzumhur (BIH): 6-1, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5. Malek Jaziri (TUN) def F Mayer (GER): 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. [R2] T Berdych (TCH) def M Jaziri (TUN):6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles: [R1] Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) & D Nestor (CAN) def I Cervantes (EST) & P Lorenzi (ITA): 7-6, 6-2. M Jaziri (TUN) & M Elgin (RUS) def J Knowle (AUT) & F Mayer (GER): 6-2, 6-1. [R2] A Qureshi (PAK) & Dl Nestor (CAN) def C Fleming (GBR) & J Erlich (ISR): 6-3, 7-6. [R3] M Granollers (ESP) & P Cuevas (URU) def A Qureshi (PAK) & Dl Nestor (CAN): 7-6, 6-4.
Women’s Singles: [R1] Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) def A Sasnovich (BLR): 7-6, 6-7, 6-1. [R1] V Razzano (FRA) def Ipek Soylu (TUR): 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. [R2] A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) def C Buyukakcay (TUR): 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Women’s Doubles: [R1] Sania Mirza (IND) & M Hingis (SUI) def D Kasatkina & A Panova (RUS): 7-6, 6-2. [R2] S Mirza (IND) & M Hingis (SUI) def N Hibino & E Hozumi (JAP): 6-2, 6-0. [R3] B Krejcikova & K Siniakova (CZE) def S Mirza (IND) & M Hingis (SUI): 6-3, 6-2.
Mixed Doubles: [R1] A Cornet & J Eysseric (FRA) def A Qureshi (PAK) & O Savchuk (UKR): 6-3, 6-3. [R1] S Mirza (IND) & I Dodig (CRO) def M Johansson & T Lamasine (FRA): 6-4, 6-3.[R2] S Mirza (IND) & I Dodig (CRO) def A Cornet & J Eysseric (FRA): 6-7, 6-4, 10-8. [1/4 final] S Mirza (IND) & I Dodig (CRO) def YJ Chan (TPE) & M Mirnyi (BLR): 6-1, 3-6, 10-6. M Hingis (SUI) & L Paes (IND) def S Mirza (IND) & I Dodig (CRO): 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.