Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/694236
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2016 Sport 54 SAILING ATHLETICS PV-IES Double Handed Race – an adrenaline rush IN spite of the demanding nature of short - handed racing the PV-IES Double Handed Race, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, never- theless saw a good fleet tackle the course. Due to the light winds on the day, Race Committee opted for a short- ened course, which saw crews head towards the Fairway Buoy before heading up North towards Comino and back to the finish line in Sliema. With conditions as they were, it started off as a tight race with lit- tle or no room for errors and no clear favourite. A light upwind to the Fairway Buoy saw the fleet split open leaving a fairly consistent gap between the fleet. This gap was maintained until the South Comino Channel, when Xpresso (Sean Borg) and Xpedite (Nils Lindemann) were first to leave the Channel and a hard fought battle saw them run away in an attempt to clinch first place. In the words of Sean Borg, "it was a very confusing wind which took two identical boats down racing for first place. Experience won at the end of the day" with Xpedite, crewed by Nils Lindemann and Timmy Camill- eri sealed a hard fought win. " D o u b l e Handed Rac- ing is not for everyone, it re- quires more focus and synergy and less room for errors and constant communication. The competition between crews is very intense", ob- served Godwin Zammit, Commo- dore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. "The Club tries to keep its racing calendar as varied as possible to try and meet our racing members' ex- pectations". A Prize Giving evening was held on the terrace at the Royal Malta Yacht Club in the presence of crews, representatives from Island Engi- neering Services suppliers of PV- IES products, Committee members and friends. Prizes were given to the winners in the various Classes, and were presented with PV-IES prod- ucts by Ms. Janice Borg, Marketing Executive, Island Engineering Ser- vices. The Club's next racing commit- ment is the Triple Handed Night Race which will take place on Friday 17th June. More information on the Royal Malta Yacht Club's calendar can be found on the Club's website – www.rmyc.org Results IRC Class 1 1st Nils Lindeman/Timmy Camilleri Xpedite 2nd Sean W. Borg / Kevin Anastasi Xpresso 3rd Edward Gatt Floridia Otra Vez IRC Class 2 1st Anton Calleja / Renato Camilleri Lartista Winning Team Xpedite, Nils Lindemann and Timmy Camilleri First race of the BSJ 5k Road Running Series on 21 June THE fourteenth edition of the Birkirkara St. Joseph 5K Road Running Series will start on Tuesday, 21st June 2015 at 7:30 p.m. on the Mtarfa By-pass. This Series, organized under the auspices of the Malta Ama- teur Athletic Association, will consist of three races with the other two races being held on the 19th July at 7:00 p.m. and on the 16th August starting at 6:30 p.m. on the Mtarfa By-pass. The winners of the series will be those athletes with the best accumulated time in the three races, in the males and females categories. Trophies will be presented to the first six athletes in the over- all final classification in the Male and Female categories. Trophies will also be awarded to the win- ners of the respective categories, while a commemorative token will be given to all athletes fea- turing in the final classification. The race route will be closed for vehicular traffic by the police during the events. Entry Forms and Regulations may be downloaded from the Club's website w w w.bkarastjo- seph.com IOC backs IAAF decision to uphold Russian athlete ban THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) ended any slim hopes that Russian athletes might have had of competing at the Rio Games in August by backing the IAAF's decision to extend its ban on the country for systematic doping on Saturday. The IOC said in a statement it "fully respects" Friday's ruling by world athletics' governing body (IAAF) to maintain its suspen- sion of the Russians. The IOC added "the eligibility of athletes in any international com- petition including the Olympic Games is a matter for the respec- tive international federation." That was exactly what IAAF president Sebastian Coe said on Friday after the IAAF Council voted unanimously to retain the ban on Russia competing in any athletics events. Rune Andersen, who heads the IAAF task force overseeing Russia's attempts to reform, said on Friday that a "deep-seated culture of tolerance, or worse, appears not to be materially changed". "No athlete will compete in Rio under a Russian f lag," he said. He and Coe will therefore be relieved that the IOC came to the same conclusion after a telecon- ference of its executive commit- tee on Saturday. IOC president Thomas Bach had earlier this month given Russia hope that his organisa- tion might overrule the IAAF at its own meeting next week over concerns that innocent athletes would be punished, saying he "re- fused to speculate" whether the IAAF vote would be the end of the issue. Russian President Vladimir Pu- tin also appeared to retain hope of a change when he said on Fri- day: "We'll talk to our colleagues at the anti-doping body, and I hope there'll be an appropriate response from the International Olympic Committee." The only Russian athletes who might now compete in track and field in Rio are a handful -- thought to be fewer than five -- who are based outside the coun- try and can apply to the IAAF for special dispensation to compete as independents. It is the first time the country, which finished second behind the United States in the track and field medal table in the 2012 Games, will be absent since the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles which they, along with several other Eastern Bloc countries, boycotted. An IOC Olympic summit in Lausanne next Tuesday is still due to discuss the issue, along with reports that Russia put in a place a complex system to beat anti-doping measures at the Win- ter Olympics that it hosted in Sochi two years ago. "The IOC will initiate further far-reaching measures in order to ensure a level playing field for all the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016," the or- ganisation said on Saturday. "The upcoming Olympic sum- mit on Tuesday will address the situation of the countries in which the National Anti-Doping Organisation has been declared non-compliant by WADA for reasons of the non-efficient func- tioning of the national anti-dop- ing system."