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Thomas Lurz eyes golden finale at Rio 2016
Rio de Janeiro: Open water swimmer Thomas Lurz is hoping Rio de Janeiro will provide the stage for the one accolade to elude him in his decorated 13-year career.
The 12-time world champion will bow out of competitive swimming after the open water race at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as per reports.
Here for Sunday’s King and Queen of the Sea Challenge in Copacabana, Lurz did not hide his desire to end his career on a high.
“An Olympic gold medal is the only thing missing from my career and it’s my final objective as a professional,” the German said.
“I will be retiring after the Rio 2016 Games and bidding farewell with a gold medal in this wonderful setting that is Copacabana beach would be the perfect end to my marathon swimming career.”
Lurz, competed in the 1500m at the , but failed to make the final. Four years later, he took part in Olympic debut in marathon swimming at Beijing, winning the bronze medal.
At the London 2012 Games, he went one better, finishing only three-and-a-half seconds behind the winner Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia.
In his first visit here, the 35-year-old said his short-term focus was to secure an Olympic berth at next year’s world championships.
“In 2015 I’m going to opt out of the World Cup and concentrate on the world championships,” he said.
“At my age, I think that it’s best to conserve my energies for my top priority, securing a place at Rio 2016.”
The King and Queen of the Sea Challenge is an international mixed doubles competition comprising swimmers from six countries: Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Spain, United States and Italy.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.