Olympic prelude for in-form Ledecky at Tokyo Pan Pacs

Gretzky named global ambassador for Beijing Kunlun Red Star

TOKYO, Aug 8, (Agencies): Swimming superstars Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel lead a powerful US team against a world-class field at this week’s Pan Pacific Championships, hoping to gain valuable pre-Olympic experience in Tokyo.

Five-time Olympic gold medallist Ledecky arrives in Tokyo in spectacular form, after clinching the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle titles at the US nationals last month and breaking her 14th world record in May.

The 21-year-old will be the one to beat in those three events at the Pan Pacifics and also competes in the 1,500m freestyle.

In the 200m freestyle, Ledecky is poised for a heavyweight clash against Canadian teen sensation Taylor Ruck who bagged a record-equalling eight medals at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

Ledecky has clocked the two fastest times of the year over that distance but Ruck is only a few tenths of a second behind her and the race promises to be a thriller.

The high-class field also includes rising Japanese star Rikako Ikee, Ledecky’s American rival Allison Schmitt and 17-year-old Australian Ariarne Titmus, who won a Commonwealth relay gold.

The Australians will be hoping to build on their Commonwealth success on the Gold Coast – where they preserved a meet win record that stretches back to 1978 – against a US team that traditionally carries all before it in international competition.

The Aussies feature Olympic Gold medallists Cate Campbell, who swims in the 50m and 100m freestyle, and Emily Seebohm, who competes in the 100m and 200m backstroke as well as the 100m freestyle.

Outside the pool, Seebohm has been embroiled in a high-profile and acrimonious break-up with Olympic silver medallist Mitch Larkin that has served as a distraction to the squad.

The Australian team for the August 9-14 event also includes Rio Olympic gold medallists Mack Horton and Kyle Chalmers.

With just under two years to go until the Olympics, some of the world’s top swimmers will be hoping to create positive memories to bring to the Japanese capital in 2020.

Wayne Gretzky has been named a global ambassador for Beijing’s Kunlun Red Star as the Chinese capital seeks to boost the profile of hockey domestically ahead of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Gretzky will focus on youth development in China, including a planned KRS-Gretzky Hockey School that will provide advanced training for players aged 8-17 in Beijing and the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, eventually expanding Participants hold umbrellas while waiting to take part in an event on National Fitness Day to mark the arrival of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,

at Beijing Olympic Park in Beijing, Aug 8. (AP)

to at least 20 locations nationwide.

Red Star is China’s only professional

team and plays in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.

China is seeking to boost hockey in a country where winter sports participation remains in its infancy.

The official China Daily newspaper quoted Red Star’s Executive Director Ao Meng as saying Gretzky’s involvement would be a “tremendous boost.”

The long-ruling supremo of amateur boxing in Japan announced his resignation Wednesday, throwing in the towel after weeks of media frenzy over a range of scandals including boutrigging, ties to a mobster and misusing grants.

Bowing deeply at a news conference carried live on national TV, Akira Yamane apologised to Japanese boxers whose hopes of participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics might have been dealt a knock-out blow by his admitted ties with an underworld figure.

“I resign today,” said Yamane, dubbed the “don” of Japan’s amateur boxing world since he took over the federation in 2011, sporting his trademark sunglasses.