WORLD OF SPORT

Best apology for being bitten by a lion

Scott Baldwin has apologised to Ospreys fans for being bitten by a lion after stroking the latter’s lioness as the resulting injury forced him to sit out their Pro14 match on Friday against Cheetahs, which they lost 44-25. Baldwin, 29, who joined Ospreys in 2009 and has been capped 34 times by Wales, was labelled “stupid” by Ospreys coach Steve Tandy after he put his hand through a fence and was bitten by a lion in South Africa. Baldwin took to Twitter to apologise and said he had made a serious misjudgement in attempting to stroke the lioness. “Sorry all Ospreys fans for letting you and the team down by missing the game through the bite!” tweeted Baldwin, along with a video of the incident. “Should of known he wouldn’t be impressed with me stroking his lioness before introducing myself to him first.” Tandy had said of the incident: “I do not know what kind of wildlife show Scott has been watching, where you pat a lion on the head as if it is a kitten.”

Fuel mix-up means no cars finish in Malaysia

There was a biazarre end to yesterday’s second Formula 4 Southeast Asia race in Sepang, one of the support events to the Malaysian Grand Prix, as none of the cars finished the race. Due to a miscalulation by the racing series organisers, none of the nine cars in the field were given enough fuel to be able to complete the eight laps of the 5.5-kilometre track. By the final lap, with the safety car out due to so many cars being stranded on track after stopping, only one driver, Kane Shepherd, was still going, but he stopped at Turn 2. Even though he did not see the chequered flag, the win was eventually awarded to Danial Frost as he had been at the head of the field before the problems began.

First North Koreans set for Winter Olympics

South Korean organisers of next year’s Winter Olympics welcomed the “special” qualifying of figure skaters from the North, as Seoul seeks to promote its isolated neighbour’s participation as a key part of the “Peace Games”. Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Jusik became the first North Koreans to qualify for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games after winning one of the five Olympic pairs spots available at a qualifying tournament in Germany. Although Pyongyang has yet to formally confirm that its athletes will take part in the Games next February, a statement from the Pyeongchang organising committee said: “We’re really excited that North Korean athletes have qualified to compete at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.”