Whitlock set the pace for marathoners
Marathon runner Ed Whitlock, who smashed several senior records, has died just days after his 86th birthday. Whitlock’s family says he died of prostate cancer. The British-born resident of Milton, Ont., became the first septuagenarian to run a marathon in under three hours when he posted a time of two hours 59 minutes 10 seconds at age 72. A year later, he improved that record with a time of 2:54:49. He also set world masters marathon records for age 75-plus, 80-plus and, most recently, 85-plus with a time of 3:56:38.
Pospisil’s thrilling run over
Vasek Pospisil’s run at the BNP Paribas Open came to a disappointing end Monday. Two days after upsetting world No. 1 Andy Murray in the second round, the Vancouver product fell 7-6 (4), 3-6, 5-7 to Dusan Lajovic in third-round play. The 106th-ranked Serbian benefited from five Pospisil double faults and won four of five break points. The match took two hours 28 minutes 17 seconds, nearly 30 minutes longer than it took Pospisil, ranked 129th, to defeat Murray Saturday.
Tough ruck in Hong Kong
Canada has been drawn in a pool with World Series leader South Africa, Kenya and France for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. The Canadian men are coming off a seventh-place finish Sunday at the Canada Sevens in Vancouver. The Hong Kong event is scheduled for April 7-9. The Vancouver finish moved Canada into 10th spot in the series’ overall standings.
Masters Par 3 field chopped
Already the smallest field among majors, the Masters is shrinking the field for the Par 3 Contest. Augusta has sent letters to its honorary invitees to inform them the Par 3 Contest, held the Wednesday before the opening round, will be limited to players in the field and past Masters champions.
Durban out as 2022 host
Durban was stripped of the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games Monday because the South African government couldn’t provide financial guarantees, while other commitments still had not been met. Durban presented a revised budget and hosting proposal to the Commonwealth Games Federation last weekend. “A number of key obligations and commitments in areas such as governance, venues, funding and risk management/assurance have not been met under the revised proposition,” the CGF said in a statement. Liverpool has already expressed interest in replacing Durban.