• No results found

M OTOR R ACING /F

In document upsc (Page 71-73)

A Indispensable Book for Bank PO | LIC | Management Railway | SSC & | IAS Examinations

M OTOR R ACING /F

European Grand Pix 2012

Formula One (F1) racer Sebastian Vettel defeated Lewis Hamilton by 1minute 38.086

seconds and won European Grand Pix 2012, Valencia on 24 June 2012. Vettel became the first F1 repeat winner of the season. Vettel is from Red Bull’s team and Hamilton is from McLaren.

There were 57 numbers of Laps on the Valencia Street Circuit in European Grand Pix 2012. The circuit length was 5.419 km had the race distance of 308.883 km. There were 12 teams participated in European Grand Pix 2012. Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racer. He was born on 3 July 1987. He won the World Championship in 2012 and 2011. Vettel also won youngest-ever World Drivers’ championship runner-up. He also secured Red Bull’s first pole position and race win in the team’s history.

ATHLETICS

Three Russian Female Athletes were Suspended

Russian Athletics Federation on 3 July 2012 decided to suspend three Russian female athletes with the European Marathon Champion, Naiva Tulamanova. The three women are Svetlana

Klyuka, Yevgenia Zinurova, Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite. European Marathon Champion 2010 Naiva Tulamanova was banned for two years. While Second winner in 800 meters European

Champions in 2006 Svetlana Klyukaand 2011 European 800 indoor winner Yevgenia Zinurova, were suspended for anomalous indexes in their biometric passports and Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite was disqualified and banned for using steroids. The suspensions of Yulamanova and Klyuka have been backdated to February. The ban for Zinurova began from September. All the three were suspended to compete in Russian championships as well as from London Olympics.

GOLF

Scottish Open

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh birdied the first play-off hole to defeat Italy’s Francesco Molinari and claim the Scottish Open golf title on Sunday. Jeev, who had been five shots off the lead going into the final round, hit a five-under 67 to

finish on 17 under . Molinari held his nerve to birdie the final hole for a par 72 to send the tournament into the play-off. Back on the 18th, Molinari left his birdie putt well short while Jeev confidently held his testing attempt to add the Scottish Open to his wins at the 2006 China Open, Volvo Masters and 2008 Austria Open.

OLYMPICS

30th Edition of Summer Olympics inaugurated in London

Summer Olympic games 2012 inaugurated at Olympic Stadium at the Olympic Park in East London on 27 July 2012. Queen Elizabeth II officially declared the commen- cement of the 30th Olympics Game, popularly called the London Olympics, amidst the sparkling fireworks. The games, which will conclude on 12 August 2012, will see nearly 10500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participating in as many as 26 sports events. London was selected to host the 30th Summer Olympics on 6 July 2005 after it defeated bids from Moscow, New The York City, Madrid and Paris during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. London also got a distinction to host the modern Olympic Games three times. The city had previously host the games in 1908 and in 1948.

Below are some of the major facts related to London Olympics 2012

1. 100 heads of states were present at the three and a half hour long opening ceremony 2. More than 10000 performers participated in the opening ceremony

3. The opening ceremony was directed by celebrated Hollywood director Danny Boyle

4. Motto of the London Olympics is - Inspire a Generation 5. 10500 athletes from 204

National Olympic Committees participating in as many as 26 sports events

India at London Olympics 2012

Champion wrestler and the winner of bronze medal in Beijing Olympics 2008, Sushil Kumar was the official flag bearer of 83-member Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of Olympics. India has sent 83-member team in the London Olympics 2012, which is the highest ever sent by Indian Olympic Association in the Olympics.

CYCLING

99th Edition of Tour de France Bicycle Race

Bradley Wiggins of Britain became the first cyclist of the country, to win the coveted Tour de France Cycling race on 22 July 2012.

Team Sky rider Wiggins is the first cyclist to have won both the Tour and an Olympic track cycling gold. His Sky teammate and fellow Briton, Froom Christopher came second. Their teammate and fellow country man Mark Cavendish was declared the day’s winner as he won the final stage of the race.

Wiggins, 32, was given the yellow jersey at the end of the event. The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day is given the yellow jersey. One of the most successful Olympian of Britain, Wiggins won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and three medals (1 Gold + 1 Silver + 1 Bronze) at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and two golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Wiggins is the first and only person in history to win the Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de France in one single season.

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race event held in France and nearby countries. The first The Tour de France was held in 1903. The race which lasts three weeks, covers around 3200 kilometres. Mauris Garin was the winner of the first edition of tour, while Lance Armstrong of USA had won the race for 7 times, the highest individual win.

VARIOUS

Use Players’ Experience

The Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken goaded ONGC and other such organisations like the Railways to give a career in sports for the sportspersons in their fold, rather than make them work like normal employees at the end of their playing career. He said that it

was important to use the experience of the players as coaches in places near their home. “It is important to make correct use of their services,” said Maken. The Sports Minister congratulated the 81 athletes who had qualified for the Olympics, passing through a stringent selection process, from a

core group of 720 probables, who were trained by 121 national coaches and 29 foreign coaches, along with 65 other support staff with a budget of about Rs. 200 crore. “Our players are second to none in the world,” said Maken. The Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, Sudhir Vasudeva

announced that ONGC would extend the cash award of Rs. 25 lakh for gold in Olympics, Rs. 15 lakh for silver and Rs. 10 lakh for bronze, not only to 20 per cent of its employees figuring in the Indian squad, but to all members of the contingent.

In document upsc (Page 71-73)