Can you reschedule a landmark moment? We talk to a musician, a centenarian, a graduate, an engaged couple and an Olympic hopeful about their special occasion that got cancelled
Philip Doyle
Continue reading...Category Archives: Sport
Competitive hotdog eaters nearing limit of human performance
A maximum of 84 hotdogs in 10 minutes is possible, says sports science study
The four-minute mile and the two-hour marathon were once believed impossible: now a new gauntlet has been thrown down for the world of elite competition. A scientific analysis suggests competitive eaters have come within nine hotdogs of the limits of human performance.
The theoretical ceiling has been set at 84 hotdogs in 10 minutes. The current world record, set by Joey “Jaws” Chestnut earlier this month, stands at 75.
Continue reading...Jack Charlton, England World Cup winner, dies aged 85
- Centre-half was part of 1966 World Cup-winning team
- Charlton also a successful Republic of Ireland manager
Jack Charlton, a World Cup winner with England and a former Republic of Ireland manager, has died aged 85. Charlton, the elder brother of Bobby, played 35 times for England as a central defender, including all six matches at the 1966 World Cup.
Related: 'He was larger than life': football world pays tribute to Jack Charlton
Continue reading...From Muhammad Ali to Colin Kaepernick, the proud history of black protest in sport
NFL players kneeling in the US and Premier League stars speaking out in the UK is nothing new: sportsmen and women have always been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights
We may never know why Jake Hepple, a now unemployed welder from Burnley, thought it was a good idea to hire a plane and have it trail a banner reading “White Lives Matter Burnley” across the skies over Manchester’s Etihad Stadium. What we are assured is that Hepple – who has been pictured with his arm wrapped round the shoulder of the English Defence League’s former leader Tommy Robinson, and whose girlfriend was sacked from her job last week, accused of posting racist material on social media (her mother has said her daughter did not write the posts) – was not motivated by any form of racism. After all, he told reporters: “I’ve got lots of black and Asian friends.”
The phrase “white lives matter” is, of course, an attack on the phrase “black lives matter” and the movement that coalesced around it. But while one is a plea for equality, the other, along with the phrase “all lives matter”, was created by those who engage in the pantomime of pretending that anyone is suggesting only black lives matter. These people belong to the same demographic as those who think structural racism doesn’t exist, or that black people should “get over” slavery. And to that demographic, top-flight football’s support of Black Lives Matter really rankles.
Continue reading...Former England boxer Kelvin Bilal Fawaz wins 16-year battle to stay in UK
Exclusive: Fawaz, who was trafficked to the UK from Nigeria as a child, won his Home Office appeal last week
The former England boxer Kelvin Bilal Fawaz has won his 16-year legal battle to live and work in the UK after the Home Office granted him leave to remain for 30 months.
Fawaz, who has represented England six times and was once an amateur champion, has been struggling to establish his adult nationality and immigration status after being trafficked from Nigeria to the UK as a child and kept in domestic servitude.
Continue reading...Bernie Ecclestone says black people are often ‘more racist’ than white people
- Former F1 chief says the sport is ‘too busy’ to deal with racism
- Ecclestone also questions Lewis Hamilton’s experiences
Bernie Ecclestone has claimed black people are “more racist” than white people and said Formula One has been “too busy” to deal with racism in an astonishing television interview.
The former chief executive of Formula One and a name synonymous with the sport said in an exchange with CNN that racism “makes me so upset”. He also said he did not think Lewis Hamilton’s experiences of racism had affected the driver. Hamilton, the six-times world champion, recently said he had felt the “stigma of racism” throughout his F1 career.
Continue reading...Liverpool are crowned Premier League champions – live reaction!
- Reds end 30-year wait | Klopp hails ‘incredible moment’
- Barney Ronay: Red machine at peak of its power
- Get in touch! Email Bryan, tweet or send us your thoughts
NBA superstar LeBron James, the 35-year-old star of the Los Angeles Lakers who obtained a 2% stake in Fenway Sports Group back in 2011, was among the first to congratulate Liverpool on today’s long-awaited Premier League title.
PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET’S GO @LFC #YNWA♥️
The sun is just going down in New York but Reds throughout the city are raging on into the night. Typically the center of the party would be the 11th Street Pub in the East Village, which is the headquarters of the Liverpool FC Supporter’s Club of NYC, in addition to the six other bars across the city LFCNY works with to accommodate overflow crowd. But the coronavirus pandemic mostly left the group’s 750-strong membership, which Wells estimates are half Americans and half expats, watching today’s match separately while keeping in touch via Zoom and WhatsApp.
“Due to Covid most people watched at home, but a few of our bars with outdoor space were able to host small crowds,” LFCNY president Justin Wells tells the Guardian. “We’re planning some sort of party at 11th Street when it’s safe.”
Champions. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Continue reading...Paralympic rowing star Angela Madsen dies during solo crossing of Pacific
- 60-year-old was crossing from California to Hawaii
- Madsen was also a campaigner for disability and LBGT rights
Angela Madsen, whose remarkable life took in a spell in the Marines, a string of gold medals and record setting rowing journeys, has died while attempting a solo journey from California to Hawaii.
The 60-year-old’s death was confirmed by her wife, Deb Madsen, in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “With extreme sadness,” she wrote, “I must announce that Angela Madsen will not complete her solo row to Hawaii.”
Continue reading...Novak Djokovic tests positive for Covid-19 amid Adria Tour fallout
- World No 1 becomes fourth player to test positive
- Dimitrov, Coric and Troicki revealed other positive tests
Novak Djokovic, the men’s world No 1 tennis player, has tested positive for Covid-19, the Serbian said in a statement on Tuesday.
Croatia’s Borna Coric, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Viktor Troicki have previously tested positive after playing in Djokovic’s Adria Tour exhibition tournament in the Balkan region.
Continue reading...FBI investigates after noose found in garage of Bubba Wallace, Nascar’s only black driver
- Driver has campaigned to ban Confederate flag at events
- Alabama governor condemns ‘mark this leaves on our state’
- Interview: Bubba Wallace on Nascar and the Confederate flag
The FBI has launched an investigation after a noose was found in the team garage of Bubba Wallace, Nascar’s only black full-time driver. The noose was discovered at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway as Nascar prepared for a race, which was subsequently delayed by bad weather, on Sunday.
“Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society,” Jay Town, the US attorney for Alabama’s southern district, said on Monday. He added that his office, along with the FBI and the justice department’s civil rights division, were involved in the investigation.
Continue reading...Dutch football captains lead boycott of TV show over racist remarks
Virgil van Dijk and Sari van Veenendaal hit out at pundit and say ‘enough is enough’
The captains of the Dutch men’s, women’s and youth national football teams are boycotting a leading sports TV programme over the racist comments of a longstanding pundit, warning: “Enough is enough.”
The Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk, and the Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal have led the way after years of the behaviour of Johan Derksen on the Veronica Inside show being explained away as straight-talking humour.
Continue reading...Climate crisis threatens future of global sport, says report
Study says heatwaves, fires and floods, and rising sea levels pose major threat over coming years
The rapidly accelerating climate crisis threatens the future of major sports events around the world, according to a report that also says the global sporting industry is failing to tackle its own emissions.
The study found that in the coming years nearly all sports – from cricket to American football, tennis to athletics, surfing to golf – will face serious disruption from heatwaves, fires, floods and rising sea levels.
Continue reading...Pilot in Kobe Bryant crash thought he was climbing rather than descending
- Documents say Ara Zobayan was trying to climb out of clouds
- Crash killed NBA legend, his daughter and seven others
The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he was actually descending, federal investigators said in documents released on Wednesday.
Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles. The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have “misperceived” the pitch of the aircraft, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan had lost his bearing.
Continue reading...French Olympic hopeful climber Luce Douady, 16, dies after cliff fall
- Douady seen as one of the sport’s brightest young talents
- French climbing federation expresses ‘immense sadness’
Teenage French climbing prodigy Luce Douady was killed on Sunday when she fell on a footpath in a climbing area in the French Alps, the French Mountain Climbing Federation (FFME) and its club in Chambery said.
The 16-year-old reigning world junior champion fell 150m as she and a group of friends were crossing a tricky path equipped with a handrail between two climbing areas.
Continue reading...Death of young footballer shot by police sparks outrage in Mexico – video
Hundreds of people bade farewell to a 16-year-old Mexican-American boy who was shot dead by police in southern Mexico. Alexander Martínez was laid to rest in a funeral that reflected his passion for football – friends brought his coffin to a local football pitch so that he could 'score' a final goal.
Martínez was shot in the head by police on Tuesday night and another teenager was also wounded in the incident and later died in hospital. The case, which is still under investigation, has sparked outrage in Mexico with protests planned in Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa, Martínez's home town
Continue reading...New Zealand to relax borders for essential workers – and US America’s Cup team
With no active Covid-19 cases, NZ to open borders to certain migrants but the move will also help team American Magic for March 2021 competition
New Zealand is relaxing its borders to grant exemptions for certain workers – including America’s Cup sailors – and partners of New Zealand citizens to enter the country.
The move comes after 21 days with no new Covid-19 cases across the country and no current live cases.
Continue reading...Gareth Thomas on coming out as HIV positive: ‘It was my right to tell my family – not somebody else’s’
The Welsh rugby star talks about why he revealed his status, his mission to help others deal with prejudice – and how Mickey Rourke nearly played him in a biopic of his life
The moment Gareth Thomas found out he was HIV positive, all he could imagine was the Aids epidemic. Sensational images of his future took over: frailty, shame, isolation, social exclusion. He remembered Norman Fowler’s tombstone advert and the people with leprosy he learned about at school who were banished to colonies. He thought it was a death sentence.
“It was an overriding feeling that my life was over,” says the former Welsh rugby captain. “It’s like somebody holding a gun to your head and pulling the trigger – how do you explain how that feels?”
Continue reading...Japan to explore ‘simplified’ Olympics, says Tokyo governor
- Possible changes for Games next year being discussed
- Mandatory testing and limited movement among options
Tokyo’s governor Yuriko Koike has said it may be necessary to a stage a “simplified” Olympics next year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and that organisers were already discussing possible changes.
Koike’s comments come after the Yomiuri newspaper reported that various options, such as mandatory coronavirus testing and having fewer spectators, were being considered by organisers.
Continue reading...Australia’s NRL fan cardboard cut-out scheme turns sour after use of Hitler and mass murderer Harold Shipman
- League says screening process is being reviewed
- Fox Sports issues apology for ‘poor taste’ TV sketch
What started out as a fun and inclusive initiative has turned sour after the NRL’s scheme to put cardboard cut-outs of fans in stadiums was hijacked.
Over the weekend a photograph of mass murderer Harold Shipman made an appearance in the stands, then a TV sketch featured an image of Adolf Hitler, prompting furious criticism from Australia’s Jewish community.
Continue reading...English sport returns behind closed doors after government green light
- Horse racing will be first sport to resume on Monday
- Premier League season set to restart on 17 June
“The British sporting recovery has begun,” declared the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, as he announced that professional sport in England can resume from Monday, paving the way for the first domestic live action in almost three months.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street press briefing, Dowden said the government had settled on a set of strict conditions that must be followed for sports to be allowed to return behind closed doors. The rules form stage three of the process of bringing sport back from the coronavirus lockdown. Stage two, which allowed for close-contact training for elite athletes, was published last Monday.
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