World Sports

The lazy thing to do is call Ronda Rousey nothing but a fraud, nothing but a marketing creation, nothing but a Dana White illusion to sell pay-per-views. She is none of those things. Never was. Never will be. To say otherwise is ridiculous. Rousey’s career may indeed be over after Amanda Nunes bludgeoned her Friday night in a 48-second stoppage to defend the bantamweight belt that Rousey once owned. There…

Was this the year of the activist athlete? NPR’s Scott Simon looks back on the year in sports with Howard Bryant of ESPN.com.

LAS VEGAS – Ronda Rousey was once again pummeled by a striker and lost her second consecutive bout. The former women’s bantamweight champion was completely outclassed in the striking game by Amanda Nunes, who stopped Rousey at 48 seconds of the first round to retain her women’s bantamweight championship in the main event of UFC 207 at T-Mobile Arena. Nunes landed a big right just seconds into the fight that…

Britain’s sporting elite has been rewarded in a New Year honours list in which Rio Olympic medallists Andy Murray and Mo Farah are made knights and Katherine Grainger and Jessica Ennis-Hill become dames. Olympians and Paralympians make up 10% of the 2017 list, which also includes knighthoods for Kinks frontman Ray Davies, 72, comedian Ken Dodd, 89, actor Mark Rylance, 56, and a damehood for actor Patricia Routledge, 87. Murray’s…

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon again – 10 July 135mm lens 1/1600 f4 ISO 1000 Championship-winning point at Wimbledon is always a bit nervy for me even though I have done many of them over the years. There are some pretty big decisions to be made – what lens do you go on as you don’t know where on the court they will celebrate? Do you go upright or landscape? Are…

Ezra Shaw/Getty 2016 was a wild year for sports. There were comebacks, like the Cleveland Cavaliers coming back from a 3-1 deficit and then winning the NBA championship in a dramatic Game 7, giving Cleveland its first NBA title. There was the Chicago Cubs’ breaking a century-old curse and winning the World Series in a gripping seven-game series over, coincidentally, the Cleveland Indians. Elsewhere, Peyton Manning concluded one of the greatest…

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon again – 10 July 135mm lens 1/1600 f4 ISO 1000 Championship-winning point at Wimbledon is always a bit nervy for me even though I have done many of them over the years. There are some pretty big decisions to be made – what lens do you go on as you don’t know where on the court they will celebrate? Do you go upright or landscape? Are…

In a Wall Street Journal article earlier this year, reporter Ben Cohen wrote, “In an age of hyper-specialization, Curry has reached the pinnacle of his sport by doing the exact opposite. He played basketball, but he also played some baseball, football, soccer and basically everything else in a sports buffet. What worked for Curry, experts say, could work for everyone.”

NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association was on Friday suspended by the Sports Ministry after failing to respond to the showcase notice issued to it questioning the decision to confer life presidency on Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Chautala. While Kalmadi voluntarily refused the position till he is absolved of all corruption charges, Chautala has been defiant, claiming he would give up the post only if asked to do so by…

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon again – 10 July 135mm lens 1/1600 f4 ISO 1000 Championship-winning point at Wimbledon is always a bit nervy for me even though I have done many of them over the years. There are some pretty big decisions to be made – what lens do you go on as you don’t know where on the court they will celebrate? Do you go upright or landscape? Are…

Wayde van Niekerk’s record-breaking four-hundred-metre run at Rio was among the best moments in sports in 2016.CreditPhotograph by Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty A professional football game has four fifteen-minute quarters, but once you subtract all the time the players spend huddling up, walking around, mugging for the cameras, getting into position, and waiting for the referees to spot the ball and the quarterback to go through his pre-snap…

When I come home from work and stick my key in the door, there is a pitter-patter of tiny feet as my eight-year-old twin boys run up to me and shout: ‘Paris St-Germain won 3-1! First he scored, then he missed, then…’ They are suffering from a harmless case of sports geekery. I had it myself as a child, and have gone on to hold down a job, albeit in…

Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA said on Wednesday it had not admitted to mass doping in the country’s sports system and that a report in the New York Times which suggested it had was a distortion of its position. The U.S. newspaper reported earlier on Wednesday that RUSADA officials had for the first time admitted there had been an organized conspiracy to dope in Russia. It cited Anna Antseliovich, the acting…

Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA said on Wednesday it had not admitted to mass doping in the country’s sports system and that a report in the New York Times which suggested it had was a distortion of its position. The U.S. newspaper reported earlier on Wednesday that RUSADA officials had for the first time admitted there had been an organised conspiracy to dope in Russia. It cited Anna Antseliovich, the acting…

Curse 2016 all you like, but all that bluster only matters if you can make 2017 better. For cities, counties and states being asked/told to fork over tax money for stadiums, ballparks and arenas, 2017 looks like just about every year that came before. In 2016, new sports facilities opened in Minneapolis, Sacramento and Edmonton with the help of more…

Wellington High School’s Wolverines wrestling team holds on to their number-one ranking in Palm Beach County, with team members earning top six honors in 11 of the 14 weight classes: freshman Chris Difiore in the 106-pound group, senior Robinson Cid in the 113, junior Robert Saldarriaga in the 120, junior Jared Abramson in the 126, senior Tyler Difiore in the 132, junior Cameryn Townsend in the 138, senior Eric Reid…

Christmas came and went in the blink of an eye, just as Rex Ryan’s tenure with the Buffalo Bills did. He was of course fired on Tuesday after just 31 games with the team, finishing with a lackluster 15-16 record. That now makes it three head coaches that have been fired in 2016, and there are certainly more to come. Several other coaches are on the hot seat and…

NEW DELHI: Faced with a barrage of criticism, scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi on Wednesday declined the position of the Indian Olympic Association‘s life president even as the sports ministry issued a showcause notice to the IOA for its controversial decision. “I thank the Indian Olympic Association for conferring the honour of Life President on me. However, I do not feel that it would be appropriate for me to accept this honour…

Russian officials for the first time have admitted to mass doping in the country’s sports system but dismissed suggestions that the “institutional conspiracy” was state-sponsored, the New York Times reported. The final part of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s independent report into doping in Russia this month provided exhaustive evidence of an elaborate doping scheme but officials at the time denied it was a state-backed program. The report found more than…

Wellington High School’s Wolverines wrestling team holds on to their number-one ranking in Palm Beach County, with team members earning top six honors in 11 of the 14 weight classes: freshman Chris Difiore in the 106-pound group, senior Robinson Cid in the 113, junior Robert Saldarriaga in the 120, junior Jared Abramson in the 126, senior Tyler Difiore in the 132, junior Cameryn Townsend in the 138, senior Eric Reid…