GB's Harper and Mew Jensen win diving silver at Worlds
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Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
Lauren Cox determined to make Olympic history after Paris heartbreak
A year ago, a heartbroken Lauren Cox almost quit the sport she loved because the Olympic Games had no home for a sprint backstroke specialist like her. If freestyle had been her thing, she would have travelled to Paris last summer as big a medal hope as Ben Proud, who claimed silver in the Olympic 50 metres freestyle. At the world championships in Singapore on Thursday, Cox, 23, fell only 0.06sec shy of a medal in the 50m backstroke, finishing fifth. Her career was back on track in a new era that will no longer cut her out of the Olympics. The 50m freestyle was added to the Games in 1988 in the belief that a one-length sprint would add a glamorous thrill, but there was no room for 50m events for any other stroke. This was still the case in Paris last year, when Cox just failed to earn selection in the 100m event. Ian Hulme, her coach at Loughborough at the time, eventually persuaded Cox to return to the pool but she agreed only on the understanding that she would only swim for fun. Her Loughborough team-mate Adam Peaty understood Cox's dilemma — he was a triple world champion, as well as a record-holder, in the 50m breaststroke — but his only Olympic target as a sprinter was the 100m. He told Cox to hang on, appointed her as an ambassador to his AP Race business and made it clear that he would be up for a comeback for Los Angeles 2028 if 50m events were added to the programme. On April 9, Olympic chiefs announced they would be. Peaty declared, 'I'll be there!', and so did Cox. 'I remember that moment and feeling so well,' Cox said. 'I can finally talk about it now without crying. I remember touching the wall [in the 100m at trials] and knowing that was it. I was out. I felt like I had let everyone down and I just wanted to burst into tears. It was awful. Heartbreaking.' Only six weeks after the good news, Cox broke the British 50m backstroke record in 27.15 at the AP Race International in London. 'I just love the 50s; instead of just going and getting the T-shirt I can be an Olympic finalist or medallist, which is exciting.' The swimming will take place in a temporary pool sunk into SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, with 38,000 spectators, by far the biggest capacity for swimming at the Olympics. Meanwhile Cox's fifth-place finish has only been bettered by one British swimmer at these championships — Duncan Scott, who finished a solid fourth in the 200m medley. Ahead of him, in a class of his own, was France's four-times Olympic champion Léon Marchand, who annihilated the world record on Tuesday in 1min 52.69sec. He was slower for gold on Thursday, finishing ahead of the USA's Shaine Casas and Hungary's Hubert Kos. Meanwhile, the Canadian triple Olympic champion Summer McIntosh collected her third gold, in the 200m butterfly, with a spectacular competition record of 2:01.99 on Thursday, and has two more golden targets ahead. Saturday brings the 18-year-old's highly anticipated clash with the unbeaten American distance legend Katie Ledecky in the 800m, before she concludes her championships in the 400m medley the following day — an event that will almost certainly end with gold for the Canadian. Yu Zidi, the Chinese 12-year-old, will be in that race, too, having finished fourth behind McIntosh in the 200m medley and 200m butterfly. Whatever happens on Sunday, she will go home the youngest-ever medallist at the world championships as China took bronze in the 4x200m freestyle, granting heats swimmer Yu a medal. For Cox, though, there is added motivation to get on the podium in LA. Her fifth place may not have been as good as the bronze she won at the world championships two years ago, but it has given her the belief that she belongs. 'I thought after the 2023 medal that it could be a fluke. I just need more confidence and belief in myself. I doubt myself a lot… so it's nice to see that I'm still up there with the best and three years to get ready' to make Olympic history.
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Report: LeBron James, Nikola Jokic meet about new hoops league
July 31 - NBA superstars LeBron James and Nikola Jokic would form a dominating duo, which is why there was so much interest in their recent get-together in France. While the meet-up between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets stars was not about forming an on-court partnership, it was about the reported global basketball league being backed by James' agent Maverick Carter, Front Office Sports reported Thursday. Jokic's agent, Misko Raznatovic, is known to have significant influence on basketball in Europe. A report from Bloomberg in January revealed Carter's interest to raise as much as $5 billion for a men's and women's league of international teams that would travel together to as many as eight different cities to play games then move to the next locale. Interested investors include the government of Singapore and the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which started LIV Golf, purchased Newcastle United of the English Premier League and formed a partnership with tennis' ATP and WTA tours. The NBA also is interested in starting a satellite league in Europe, while revealing this week that the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic will play games against each other in Berlin and London in January. --Field Level Media
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump to bring back Presidential Fitness Test during White House event featuring controversial Chiefs kicker
Professional athletes will join President Donald Trump to sign an executive order that expands his Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, including the revival of the Presidential Fitness Test — not to be confused with his own annual physical — a public school health program. The event will feature controversial Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, golfer Bryson DeChambeau, former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, among other notable guests, according to CNN, and former WWE champion Paul 'Triple H' Levesque. The president, an avid golfer, has made major sporting events a feature of his second term, attending the Super Bowl, FIFA Club World Cup final, wrestling, and MMA events, among others. Trump takes particular pride in being president at a time when the U.S. will host the 2025 Ryder Cup, 2026 FIFA World Cup jointly with Canada and Mexico, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Today's order will formally reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test, first introduced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, creating school-based programs that reward 'excellence in physical education' and developing criteria for a Presidential Fitness Award, according to details seen by CNN. The test, administered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., brings back the fitness challenge administered in public schools from 1966 to 2012, awarding presidential recognition to children who received the highest scores. Former President Barack Obama replaced the test in 2012 with an assessment called the FitnessGram, which focuses on improving individual health rather than exceptionalism. Various adaptations had previously been made under the Clinton and Bush administrations. The original test was based on an Eisenhower administration initiative that consisted of pull-ups, sit-ups, a shuttle run (running back and forth between two points), standing broad jumps, a 50-yard dash, and a softball distance throw. It was modified over the years, including the addition of longer running options and the elimination of the softball throw. 'President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles — creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the network. The White House says the order addresses a 'widespread epidemic of declining health and physical fitness' and instructs the presidential council to partner with professional athletes, sports organizations, and other influential figures. Many of those high-profile individuals will join the president at the White House on Friday to become formal members of the council. All of them have close ties to Trump. Butker met with the president in the Oval Office earlier this year and remains a controversial figure after he said in a commencement speech that a woman's accomplishments in the home are more valuable than any academic or professional goals. He defended his address and emphasized his Catholic faith. a 'deadly sin.' DeChambeau, a Trump favorite who currently plays on the LIV Golf League and recently visited the White House, where he played golf on the South Lawn, is being named chairman of the council. Taylor, a New York City football star in the 1980s and 1990s, has previously spoken at Trump campaign rallies. Other attendees expected at Thursday's event include Cody Campbell, a former college football player and head of Texas Tech's Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) collective, who has been a key voice shaping Trump's policies on college sports; Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, the WWE's Chief Content Officer and 14-time World Champion, who is the public face of a company with a long-standing relationship with Trump; Annika Sorenstam, a Swedish professional golfer considered one of the most successful female golfers in history; and Stephen Soloway, a New Jersey physician who served on Trump's sports council during his first term. In addition to touting his second term coinciding with the U.S. hosting multiple major international sporting events, the president also utilizes sports as a tool in his broader agenda to reshape cultural issues. Most recently, he threatened the Washington Commanders NFL team, warning them to change their name back to the 'Redskins' or face problems in securing a deal for a new stadium. Trump similarly wants the Cleveland Guardians baseball team to revert to being the 'Indians.' The teams changed their names in 2020 and 201, respectively, after years of pressure from groups complaining that their names and mascot logos were racially offensive to Native Americans. Trump has also used sports as a bully pulpit to push new policies attacking transgender athletes.
