World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe also among 17 recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor
The gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe are among 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, the White House announced on Friday.
The two sport stars are being celebrated for their accomplishments in competition and in social activism.
Continue reading...Australia have thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in Galle, bowling the hosts out in a session and claiming their fastest Test victory in 20 years. In a comprehensive display, Australia took only 22.5 overs to roll through Sri Lanka for 113 in their second innings on Friday, with Nathan Lyon and Travis Head taking four wickets each.
That left Australia needing five runs to win, with David Warner (10 not out) finishing the job inside an over with a four and a six. The win came in 153.2 overs for the Test match, Australia’s fastest since they demolished Pakistan in Sharjah in 2002.
Continue reading...Nadine Dorries, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, stunned a rugby league audience by confusing the 13-man game with the rival code.
Speaking in St Helens at the launch of a report into the social impact made by the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, Dorries opened her address with a reference to Jonny Wilkinson’s match-winning drop goal for England in union’s 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Continue reading...Cameron Green helped bat Australia to the safety of a 101-run lead in the first Test in Galle, after a morning of chaos caused by heavy rain and wild winds. Green’s 77 was the highlight of day two for Australia, before they went to stumps at 313-8 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 212 as bad light stopped play.
It came after more than two hours of play were lost to a morning storm that caused the roof of a makeshift grandstand in Galle’s International Stadium to collapse. Sightscreens were also torn down and a glass panel in a marquee smashed, as gusts of more than 60kph thrashed the coastal city.
Continue reading...Former F1 chief calls Russian president ‘first-class person’ in GMB interview and blames war on Zelenskiy
Formula One has sought to distance itself from remarks made by its former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who said he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and described him as “a first-class person”.
Ecclestone, who reportedly has been friends with Putin since the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided if the latter’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had done more.
Continue reading...Ten British players step out in second round after day in which record six Britons won matches
A piece of history has been made at Wimbledon as 10 British players stepped out in the second round for the first time since 1984.
Harriet Dart, 25, defeated Spain’s Rebeka Masarova in straight sets as the crowd roared and her mother watched on, while British men’s No 1, Cameron Norrie, 26, was also triumphant on Wednesday, beating Spain’s Jaume Munar and reaching the third round.
Continue reading...The tournament is understood to have made a rare exception to its dress code, with some players wearing ribbons in solidarity
Wimbledon is abandoning its strict all-white rule for players who want to show solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, it is understood.
Poland’s Iga Świątek, the women’s world No 1, wore a blue and yellow ribbon on her cap today in a sign of unity with Ukraine. The Ukrainian players Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina are also expected to wear ribbons when they come up against each other on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Thanasi Kokkinakis “can’t wait” after breaking his Wimbledon hoodoo to set up a second-round blockbuster with three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Five long years since his last appearance at the All England Club, Kokkinakis continued his 2022 renaissance with a watershed 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-5 victory over Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak on Monday.
Continue reading...Anticipation mounts in greatest cycling nation in the world for world’s greatest cycling race
Cycle paths have been painted yellow, knitting enthusiasts have made a giant yellow jersey, and preparations are being made for a flotilla of boats flying yellow flags. The “big yellow party” comes to Denmark on 1 July when the country widely regarded as the best in the world for cyclists hosts the opening stage of the world’s greatest cycling race.
The Tour de France was originally slated to start in Copenhagen in 2021, but was transferred to Brest in response to a Covid-related scheduling conflict with the European Championships.
Continue reading...Sophia Smith scored twice in the second half and the US women’s national team beat Colombia 3-0 on Saturday night to extend their home unbeaten streak to 68 games, but many of the players had a seismic legal ruling on their minds.
Smith scored her first in the 54th minute off a pass from Rose Lavelle when Colombian goalkeeper Catalina Perez came out of her goal. She added her second in the 60th minute. Smith, who plays for the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League, has six international goals.
Continue reading...Outfoxed by a rookie coach, widely criticised for his team selection and ultimately ambushed and humiliated in front of a record crowd at home, Brad Fittler had both feet in the furnace. But the Blues coach held his nerve all week and now has his mojo back as NSW dominated their old foes to level the State of Origin series with a thumping 44-12 Game 2 victory.
In Sydney Billy Slater pulled a card from the Cameron Smith playbook and slowed the ruck. The Blue cogs got sticky, sending Cleary off his kicking game. Without their talisman – and a Plan B by Fittler – it all unravelled. Fittler swung the axe, picked a running side with a majority-Penrith spine and put starch back in the defensive line.
Continue reading...While you’re waiting for the action to get underway, enjoy lifelong Bears tragic Sam Perry keeping the dream alive.
Speaking earlier of the NSW changes to the ruck, Billy Slater reckons they’ve made the Blues a more dangerous proposition, telling Nine: “I see a huge strength in their dummy half position. Firstly with Apisai Koroisau starting the game, he’s got a great craft around dummy half area and then we’re anticipating Damien Cook to come on somewhere late in that first half. So when he gets there, he’s an explosive runner. So that’s what we’ve worked hard on this week. It will be a big strength of their game.”
Continue reading...Mollie O’Callaghan has made it a hat-trick of golds while leading the mixed 4x100m relay quartet to Australia’s first global landmark at this year’s world swimming championships.
And Kaylee McKeown has underlined her standing as one of Australia’s marquee swimmers with her first world championship triumph in the 200m backstroke in Budapest on a milestone penultimate day for the Dolphins.
Continue reading...Controversial Collingwood star Jordan De Goey has been given personal leave by the AFL club, with no time frame set on his return.
It comes a day after he was hit with a $25,000 suspended fine and he apologised for his “disrespectful” conduct while partying in Bali.
Continue reading...Australian Olympic champion Cate Campbell has supported Fina’s vote to restrict transgender women from taking part in elite female swimming competitions, saying she had “wrestled long and hard” with her views on the polarising issue before concluding that fairness is a “cornerstone” of professional sport.
Fina’s historic decision has also elicited criticism; the policy shift has been slammed by transgender advocacy groups and swimmer Maddie Groves described it as “discriminatory and unscientific”.
Continue reading...Elijah Winnington has powered to his first global gold while the all-conquering 4x100m relay women won again to give Australia the perfect flying start to the world swimming championships.
Winnington earned redemption after his Olympic disappointment, speeding to an emphatic victory in the 400m freestyle, the first final of the entire week-long programme in Budapest, on Saturday.
Continue reading...Australia’s womens rugby team, the Wallaroos, have been defeated 22-10 in a brave performance against world No 4 Canada in the wild weather of Whangarei, on New Zealand’s North Island.
The world No 8 ranked Wallaroos led the Pacific Four game early, after pushing the ball to the edges where winger Lori Cramer kicked ahead for halfback Layne Morgan to chase it down, snatch it up and win a penalty five metres out. A good leap at the line-out from lock Michaela Leonard secured possession for a fine forward drive for the line and hooker Ashley Marsters duly planted it over the stripe.
Continue reading...With no histrionics and no dramas, just pure, no-nonsense enjoyment, Nick Kyrgios has roared into the semi-finals of the Halle grass-court tournament.
The Australian, so often sidetracked from his own brilliance by unnecessary distractions, was the model of businesslike concentration on Friday - with just the odd showman’s trick chucked in - as he blew away Top 20 baseliner Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-2.
Continue reading...Bold experiment uses sport to boost social mobility while bringing organised games to state schools
St Paul’s and Winchester are facing a new rivalry at fives – the handball game that for hundreds of years has largely been the preserve of the most rarified public schools.
Children at Stoke Newington school in Hackney, east London, are leading a new wave of state school rugby fives players who have started training to take on their privileged counterparts in matches that will reach across one of the UK’s most entrenched social divides.
Continue reading...The French government official investigating the chaos at the Champions League final in Paris in which police used teargas and pepper spray against Liverpool fans admitted there were “many regrets” over what happened but said preparations had been robust.
Michel Cadot, the sports ministry’s delegate on major events, said those involved in planning for the match – including the French Football Federation and the police – had acted in a “strong and satisfactory” manner, but admitted the occasion was “an important failure that damages us”.
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