SPORTS DIGEST

Rossi calls for affordable bikes

MOTOR CYCLING:MotoGP must make bikes more low-tech and affordable if the sport is to ride out the credit crunch without further casualties, world champion Valentino Rossi said yesterday.

Kawasaki has pulled out and is seeking a buyer while Rossi’s Yamaha team chose to unveil their 2009 bike online yesterday as a part of a raft of cost-cutting measures across the sport.

“I am very worried about the number of bikes on the MotoGP grid because in 2008 there were only 19, which was already not many,” the eight-time champion said.

“I hope that Kawasaki stay. We have to find a way to have more bikes on the track. I think that we need a bike that is a little less sophisticated and a little cheaper,” added Rossi, who has long bemoaned the overuse of electronics in MotoGP.

Yamahas new bike, the YZR-M1, was unveiled on the Internet (www.yamaha-racing.com) in stark contrast to last years glitzy presentation in Turin.

OCI boost for women bobsleighers

BOBSLEIGH:Ireland's women bobsleighers have received a major boost from the Olympic Council of Ireland as they attempt to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

The Irish challengers, headed by bobsleigh pilot, 25-year-old Aoife Hoey from Portarlington, will benefit from the purchase of a state-of-the-art bobsleigh by the Olympic Council and also a scholarship grant from the Olympic Solidarity Fund. These initiatives will allow the Irish bobsleigh team to compete in the Europa and World Junior Cup competitions – all essential components in their bid to become the first female bobsleighers to represent Ireland at the Winter Olympics.

Stephen Martin, chief executive, Olympic Council of Ireland, said: “The new sleigh will help them to represent Ireland with pride as they challenge for Olympic qualification.”

Swimming body says Phelps’ apology enough

SWIMMING:The International Olympic Committee said an apology from record-breaking Olympic champion Michael Phelps, who was photographed inhaling from a pipe used for smoking marijuana, was proof enough of his sincerity.

Britains News of the World newspaper ran a picture of swimmer Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics, with the glass pipe, saying it was taken at a student party at the University of South Carolina in Columbia last November.

The newspaper did not say Phelps was smoking marijuana but said the glass pipe the swimmer was photographed with was generally used to smoke the drug.

“Michael Phelps is a great Olympic champion. He apologised for his inappropriate behaviour,” IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said yesterday.

US officials said the news was disappointing but stressed that smoking marijuana out of competition was not an anti-doping matter at this point.

Flintoff looking good for Windies Test

CRICKET:Andrew Flintoff will have to come through today's practice unscathed before England decide on his participation in tomorrow's first Test against West Indies.

All-rounder Flintoff was sidelined with a side strain after just one day’s action on this Caribbean tour.

Although a scan on his left side last week showed “no major damage”, and things are looking positive, it is not 100 per cent certain Flintoff will take his place in Andrew Strauss’ first Test match in permanent charge of his country.

“We will see how I rock up tomorrow,” said Flintoff. “I feel fine. I bowled some overs in St Kitts, bowled some more today but I have still got to get through tomorrow and make sure I am fit going into the first day.”

Flintoff will be loath to miss any matches given his luck with injuries over recent years, which have played a significant part in him missing 52 Tests since his debut in 1998.