Olympic champs vie for ultimate award
Olympic gold medallists Arianne Titmus and Arisa Trew have both been heralded for their achievements in Paris and nominated among the superstars of world sport in the revered Laureus World Sport Awards.
Their nominations come as the Laureus Academy removed Australian Open tennis winner Jannik Sinner's nomination from the list of those vying for the World Sportsman of the Year award in the wake of his three-month doping ban.
Trew, the teenage skateboarding sensation who captured the world's attention by taking gold at the Paris Olympics at the tender age of 14, and then entranced sports fans further with her request for a pet duck as her reward, is going for back-to-back wins in the Action Sportsperson of the Year category.
She was the youngest Australian Olympic gold medallist in history.
Titmus has been nominated for the Comeback of the Year award after becoming the first woman this century to defend her 400m freestyle title in Paris having recovered from surgery to remove a tumour on her ovary.
She also collected a further three medals at the Games, including gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
'For anyone that knows me, they'd know I'd give up anything in the world to be a mother. It's my biggest dream, so this was a scary time for me,' Titmus said of her ordeal after winning gold in Paris.
'Being an athlete is tough. Being a woman is tough. I've learned more about my body and what it is capable of.'
Titmus will be vying against the likes of Indian cricket superstar Rishabh Pant, who suffered horrific injuries in a car crash before returning to international cricket, including last summer's Test series in Australia.
The list of nominees for major awards reads like a who's who of sporting superstars, with Formula 1 world champ Max Verstappen nominated for World Sportsman of the Year.
But he won't be competing with Italian world No.1 Sinner, whose nomination was withdrawn after he accepted a three-month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) having twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol.
'Following discussions by the Laureus Academy it has been decided that Jannik Sinner's nomination for this year's Laureus Award is to be withdrawn,' a statement said.
'We have followed this case, the decisions of the relevant global bodies and, while we note the extenuating circumstances involved, feel that the three-month ban renders the nomination ineligible. Jannik and his team have been informed.'
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Sinner's still here!
Alcaraz, 22, fought from two sets down and saved three championship points to defend his Roland Garros crown in a magnificent six-hour Paris thriller Getty Images Carlos Alcaraz produced a comeback for the ages to defeat Jannik Sinner and take the 2025 French Open final in a six-hour instant classic in Paris. Alcaraz, 22, defended his title by coming back from two sets down and saving three championship points to win 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2). The Spaniard was broken twice as the world No. 1 and slight favorite Sinner started strongly on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and Alcaraz went two sets behind after being edged out of the second-set tiebreak at sunny Roland Garros. Alcaraz won three breaks in the third set and won a dramatic tiebreak to level the match before he went 7-0 up in the championship breaker with some celestial tennis and sealed his triumph with a laser forehand. GO FURTHER Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner to win French Open in tennis classic Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-7(3), 1-2* Alcaraz Sinner 15-0, and the umpire confirms Sinner's ball is out, just. 15-all. Sinner serve called out, Alcaraz overrules and calls it in. These two gents, honestly. Ooh, Alcaraz return long, and this is game point to the world No. 1, the top seed, the pre-match favorite. The mid-match favorite! Another return long and Sinner is on the board. He's not going anywhere. Getty Images Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-7(3), *0-2 Alcaraz Sinner rather limped to his chair between games, and trudged wearily across court to receive serve from Carlos Alcaraz. Is his body failing him? 30-0 Alcaraz. Sinner into the net, slides for the volley, 30-15. A guttural roar from Alcaraz, deep from his diaphragm, bursts out of his mouth as he levers away a winner for 40-15 and game point. 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MY WORD, WHAT A TENNIS MATCH! Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-6(*3-6) Alcaraz Alcaraz high, Sinner smash, 4-3. What a treat this match has been. But Sinner duffs a second-serve return miles long for 5-3! And, pressure mounting on the tall Italian's shoulders, Sinner goes long! Alcaraz points at the ball mark, and it's out! He has three set points to take this into a deciding fifth set. Sinner won't feel secure even with a decent lead in a tiebreak. He led Alcaraz 3-0 in the deciding tiebreak of the China Open final last fall. Alcaraz went stratospheric and won seven points in a row to win the title. Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-6(*2-4) Alcaraz Ace from Alcaraz! Close, but Sinner says it's good. Another serve, called out, but it's good as both players and the umpire inspect it! 2-0 down, 3-2 up for Alcaraz. Still on serve though. That nuclear forehand sparked the momentum shift of this tiebreak on Chatrier. And Sinner goes wide! Four points in a row! Getty Images Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-6(2-1*) Alcaraz Alcaraz slams it into the net and mutters darkly and uncharitably. Sinner takes the serve after the narrowest of mini-breaks. Uh oh, Alcaraz long, Sinner 2-0 up and with the serve. Big next point. You absolute dancer, Carlos. He pings a forehand winner for 2-1 and takes the serve back. It is funny that re my earlier post that Sinner had lost all six of his matches longer than three hours 50 minutes, he got broken serving for the match as the clock ticked over that mark. Is three hours, 50 minutes for Sinner like midnight for Cinderella? Sinner struggling late in the day? Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-6* Alcaraz 40-15 to Jannik Sinner, world No. 1, but his feet are caked in quicksand as he can only watch Alcaraz grip it and rip it past him for a flaming forehand winner, easily more than 100 miles an hour on that. 40-30, but Sinner holds. Tiebreak. Remember, Sinner won the breaker in the second... Sinner has chosen a terrible time to play his worst tennis of the afternoon. Getty Images Sinner 6-4, 7-6(4), 4-6, 5-6* Alcaraz Almost disappointment, a stunned hush, greets Sinner going 15-0 up. Then Alcaraz predicts which way he will smash but can only bat it into the tramlines. Good effort, nonetheless. But he's 30-0 down and a tiebreak beckons. Or does it? Sinner bullets one into the net, 30-15. Poor. Can Sinner lose this set and win the match? If he does it'll be one of the most amazing resets in the history of the sport. Now that is a wild stat from our very own Matt Futterman . Momentum = swung. Getty Images Alcaraz has won 13 out of 14 points since being down triple-match point.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Massive Debt Revealed at Center of Olympian's Shock Divorce
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Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Coco Gauff used words and a mirror to persuade herself she could win the French Open
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