Jacques Kallis was voted the 2004 Sportsman of the Year for the Western Cape Sports Writers’ Association. Kallis was presented with the trophy by Nick Mallet at a function held at the Newlands cricket stadium on Monday evening. The woman’s award went to Natalie du Toit for her performance at the Paralympic Games held in Athens.
Russia’s Anastasia Myskina wrote herself an unwanted chapter in the Roland Garros record books on Monday when she became the first defending champion in history to crash out in the first round. There were no such dramatics in the men’s first round where Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Gaston Gaudio and Tim Henman all won in straight sets.
Only a tiny plaque on a small brick monument in Ann Arbor commemorates 99-year-old Ferry Field as hallowed ground, the site of the finest hour in athletics thanks to the legendary Jesse Owens. Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of Owens setting three world records and matching another within a span of 45 minutes.
Jonny Wilkinson marked his return to international rugby by rescuing a share of the spoils for the British and Irish Lions in their 25-25 draw against an under-strength Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Monday. The England flyhalf had not played Test rugby since booting the winning drop goal at the 2003 World Cup final.
United States billionaire Malcolm Glazer said on Monday he plans to take Manchester United off the London Stock Exchange as early as June 22, putting the world’s richest soccer team into private ownership. Glazer also moved on Monday to buy out remaining shareholders of the team.
Beleaguered clothing manufacturer Rex Trueform said on Tuesday that a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium has expressed a willingness to offer attractive terms to lease its Salt River factory, which faces closure. The company announced in March that the Salt River factory was no longer viable.
Black-owned agricultural services company Umlimi Services on Tuesday announced in a statement that it has launched as an empowered service provider to the agricultural sector. Umlimi will act as a service agent to farmers and manage the substantial chain of costs that occur beyond the farm gate.
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has outlined a very favourable picture of South Africa’s economy for the year, pointing to the National Treasury’s expectations of rising gross domestic product growth, low inflation, a very low budget deficit and improving employment trends, as well as continuing strong capital inflows.
At least 35 people were killed and 25 wounded in a double suicide car bomb attack on Monday evening in the northern Iraqi town of Tall Afar, bringing the overall car bomb death toll for the day to 53. In the bloodiest attack, two suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives into a crowd in Tall Afar, about 400km north of Baghdad.
An eight-year-old girl survived for more than seven hours buried under rubble in a recycling bin at a landfill site after being kidnapped from her home in Florida, raped and left to die. The girl was rescued when a police officer searching the tip spotted her hand poking through large chunks of concrete inside the bin where she had been dumped.