Last year was a pretty remarkable one for Spanish sport, doping scandals aside. With the World Cup win in South Africa the obvious pinnacle, there was glory for Spain in football, tennis, swimming and basketball. But what does 2011 hold in store for the country’s athletes and national teams? In tennis, world number one Rafael Nadal has opened his campaign at the Australian Open, seeking to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams. Nadal already ranks seventh in the list of overall Grand Slam winners with nine, is one of three players in the open era to hold a Golden Slam, one of only seven in history to have achieved the career slam and the only player to … [Read more...] about 2011: Grand Slams, Liga intrigue and drugs
drugs in sport
Is a steak really why Contador’s reputation is at stake?
Alberto Contador has faced some pretty stiff challenges over the last couple of months. More than one of those have been posed by Andy Schleck, the rider from Luxembourg who was right on his rear wheel for so much of the Tour de France, before the Spaniard secured his third Paris victory. And yet, the latest test for Contador cannot be solved by his incredible ability to accelerate up steep hills, dancing on the pedals as he does so. A positive drugs result during this year’s Tour for a banned substance, clenbuterol, means he could possibly be stripped of that latest title and banned from the sport. The test was carried out on July 21, three days before the end of the race and the UCI … [Read more...] about Is a steak really why Contador’s reputation is at stake?