Latest news with #Worlds
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Bhavani Devi all geared up for World fencing championships beginning July 26
Not being able to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics made India's top fencer Bhavani Devi's days and nights longer. She didn't speak to her family for a while drowning in sorrow, disappointment and introspection. Like a true professional, she, however, quickly regrouped and has been fervently with her coach Christian Bauer in Padua (Italy) despite results not being favourable in quite a few tournaments. Never a quitter, the 31-year-old is gearing up to put her best foot forward in the individual women's sabre event of the World fencing championships to be held at Tbilisi (Georgia) from July 26 (Worlds are from July 22 to 30). 'This is going to be my fifth World championships in the senior category. I want this to be my best. My best result in Worlds was reaching the round-of-16 in the 2019 edition. I am looking forward to my event on 26th,' said Bhavani to The Hindu in a recent interaction from Padua. Training with Bauer, Bhavani said has been an experience in itself. 'He is a strict taskmaster. He is one of the best coaches in the world. It's not easy to train under him. We have to learn and adapt quickly. Our working relationship is getting better,' she said. In the last 12 months, Bhavani has participated in two Asian championships, in Kuwait and Bali, four World Cups in Oran (Algeria), Greece, Peru and Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) and two Grand Prix in Seoul (South Korea) and Tunisia. Her best has been reaching the round of 32 in Oran. While admitting that her performance has not been great, Bhavani insisted she is slowly getting to her best. 'I feel in the last three competitions, there has been improvements, especially after the Asian championship in Bali (from June 17 to 23 2025; Bhavani reached the pre-quarterfinals). I felt as if I was playing well as I did during training sessions. Mentally and physically, I am feeling better,' the Tokyo Olympian and the first fencer from India to make it to the quadrennial event, said. Bhavani, the 12-time Senior National champion, said it took time for her to come to terms with not being able to make the cut to the Paris Olympics. She said her faith in the process kept her going, the nagging shoulder problem notwithstanding. 'I had pain in my (right) shoulder during the 2024 Asian championships. There were few who suggested I go for surgery. In August-September 2024, I did rehab in Bengaluru under physiotherapist Yash Pandey. I focused on my recovery and am perfectly fine now,' she said, while thanking Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for its continued support.
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Health
- Scotsman
Meet Scotland's first ever transplant football team
The group are preparing for the Transplant Football World Cup next year. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland's first transplant football team is not even a year old, but it has already welcomed dozens of players and competed in an international competition. The 18-member-strong mixed gender team, who have all had organ transplants, competed at the European Transplant Football Championship earlier this year and now have their eyes set on the Transplant Football World Cup 2026. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They train at Bellshill Athletics in Glasgow around twice a month with the club allowing the team to use their training ground and facilities for free. Players are scattered across the country - and across the Border - from one being up in Inverness and another even living in Norwich. There is also a wide range of ages who are part of the team from 23 to 63. The club has the aims of giving those who have had a transplant a chance at active recovery while also raising awareness of the benefits of organ donation. The football team was founded last year. | Scotland Transplant Active Football Founder Duncan MacAulay lives in Inverness and works for the fire service. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He received a heart transplant in February 2023 after suffering from multiple cardiac arrests which led to him being fitted with a defibrillator. Mr MacAulay said: 'I not long had my own transplant and then ultimately I saw that there was a Transplant Football World Cup. I really couldn't believe that Scotland wasn't being represented. 'Me being me contacted Transplant Support UK and asked why there wasn't a Scotland team. They said 'no one's ever come forward' and that really surprised me. 'So ultimately I pitched the idea of founding the Scotland Transplant Football team and that was in September of last year.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It did not take long for the club to kick off as only six months later the team were headed to the Euros. 'We went to the Euros, the Worlds are next' Stephen O'Donnell, from Glasgow, spotted a post from Mr MacAulay on Facebook and then decided to join the team in February. The 44-year-old, who plays in defence, said: 'Within a couple of months I was playing in the Euros for Scotland - I don't think it gets more amazing than that. 'It's not really often on a daily basis that you get to chat to other people that have been through the same thing too.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And that is a shared sentiment across the team who all say they are like a big group of friends and share their own transplant stories with each other. The team competed in the European Transplant Football Championship earlier this year. | Scotland Transplant Active Football 'We wouldn't be here without organ donation' Mr O'Donnell - who received a kidney and pancreas transplant in May 2023 - added: 'Organ donation is so important. 'Without organ donation, people like myself, everyone else on the team and everyone who has received a transplant or is waiting for one literally won't be alive without a new organ whether it's a liver, lungs, heart or kidney.' Teammate and goalkeeper Ian Alexander, 34, said he had been unwell since he was three years old. Mr Alexander started dialysis in 2019 for six months before he received a kidney transplant. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He lives in Bellshill, close to where the team trains, and has been a part of the team since the very start. 'If anyone asked me how I felt before my transplant, I'd say I feel great. As my health declined, I just adapted,' he said. 'But it's completely changed my life. I'm so much fitter. 'With the football team, it's such a good supportive measure and they're always there if anyone's struggling. We're just like one big family.' Now, the team are preparing for the world championship. | Scotland Transplant Active Football Johnny Fallon Sr., 63, is the team manager and received a liver transplant in October 2021. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said: 'A lot of guys who have had a transplant have actually met their donor's families or the people who have given them a kidney. 'It's not really about playing football, it's also about being the transplant advert. Letting people know that their donors mean so much to us and trying to encourage donors of the future.' Hunt for young players to 'carry team into the future' So, what are the next steps for Scotland's transplant football team? The team say they are looking forward to their match against London Transplant United FC on August 31. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr MacAulay said: 'We're keen to try and get that younger audience to try and build us and get that promotion for the future.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Roger Black and British relay icons finally receive gold medals… 28 YEARS after controversial race tinged with tragedy
BRITAIN'S relay runners have finally received world championship gold medals…28 YEARS after the race took place. Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson and reserve Mark Hylton finished second in the men's 4x400 metres relay final behind the United States at the 1997 Worlds in Athens. Advertisement 3 Britain's relay runners have finally been given their gold medals 28 years after the World Championship race took place Credit: PA:Empics Sport 3 Great Britain's men's 4x400m relay team (left to right) Mark Richardson, Jamie Baulch, Roger Black, Iwan Thomas and Mark Hylton got the medals during a special ceremony Credit: PA The quartet ran a time of 2:56.65 while American sprinters Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Chris Jones and Tyree Washington came home first in 2:56.47 in the Greek capital. Yet a retrospective anti-doping violation by Pettigrew – in 2008 he was banned for two years after admitting he used prohibited substances – meant the Yanks were belatedly booted out of the event. This resulted in the Brits being upgraded to the gold medal position but it has taken almost three decades before they got their hands on the gongs. A special medal ceremony led by World Athletics President London Stadium on Saturday at 1.30pm on a wet afternoon in Stratford. Advertisement READ MORE SPORT And the British national anthem was also played in front of the sell-out crowd. UK Athletics say the presentation 'offers a long-awaited opportunity to celebrate a landmark moment in British athletics and to honour a team who exemplified fairness, resilience and excellence on the global stage'. Pettigrew, who was born in Georgia , was caught up in the BALCO doping scandal and admitted during the trial of former coach Trevor Graham that he had doped. As a result, the US Anti-Doping Agency annulled all of Pettigrew's competitive results after January 1997. Advertisement Most read in Golf 3 The American quartet (left to right) Tyree Washington, Chris Jones, Jerome Young and Antonio Pettigrew were stripped of their gold medal a few years ago Credit: Getty CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He also voluntarily surrendered his 2000 Sydney Olympics 4x400 metres relay gold medal and his 1997 and 1999 world championship relay golds. In August 2010, Pettigrew was found dead in the backseat of his locked car in North Carolina. He was 42 years old. Advertisement 'Freakish athlete' Anthony Elanga shows off insane 100m time ahead of Newcastle transfer An autopsy report said the cause of death was diphenhydramine toxicity – it was ruled that he had committed suicide by overdosing on a drug common to sleeping pills. One of the reasons it has taken so long to happen is that the five guys had not managed to coordinate diaries for an event taking place in the UK after it was all confirmed in 2021. Yet there is a bittersweet feeling among the contingent given that Pettigrew felt compelled to take his own life when his drugs shame went public. Welsh star Baulch, 52, said: 'I've said this to a few people now. If there was an option of giving this gold medal to him, I'd rather him have the gold medal than him taking his life. Advertisement 'His life is far more important to me than me having this gold medal.' Former European 400 metres champion Thomas, 51, said: 'On the one hand it's a real shame it's taken this long. 'On a personal level, it's really beautiful today. My son Teddy, who is six, is here today. I didn't have any children back then. 'My mum and dad are pretty elderly now. They're up in the box. For them to be able to see the moment I should have had with the boys 28 years ago, but in front of a British crowd, it felt really special.' Advertisement You're Not Alone EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers. It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes. And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women. Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now. That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign. The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives. Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support: CALM, Heads Together, HUMEN Mind, Papyrus, Samaritans,
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Roger Black and British relay icons finally receive gold medals… 28 YEARS after controversial race tinged with tragedy
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BRITAIN'S relay runners have finally received world championship gold medals…28 YEARS after the race took place. Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson and reserve Mark Hylton finished second in the men's 4x400 metres relay final behind the United States at the 1997 Worlds in Athens. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Britain's relay runners have finally been given their gold medals 28 years after the World Championship race took place Credit: PA:Empics Sport 3 Great Britain's men's 4x400m relay team (left to right) Mark Richardson, Jamie Baulch, Roger Black, Iwan Thomas and Mark Hylton got the medals during a special ceremony Credit: PA The quartet ran a time of 2:56.65 while American sprinters Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Chris Jones and Tyree Washington came home first in 2:56.47 in the Greek capital. Yet a retrospective anti-doping violation by Pettigrew – in 2008 he was banned for two years after admitting he used prohibited substances – meant the Yanks were belatedly booted out of the event. This resulted in the Brits being upgraded to the gold medal position but it has taken almost three decades before they got their hands on the gongs. A special medal ceremony led by World Athletics President Seb Coe took place at the London Stadium on Saturday at 1.30pm on a wet afternoon in Stratford. READ MORE SPORT KEEL DEAL Bikini babe Keely Hodgkinson stuns in bath with fellow athletes joining comments And the British national anthem was also played in front of the sell-out crowd. UK Athletics say the presentation 'offers a long-awaited opportunity to celebrate a landmark moment in British athletics and to honour a team who exemplified fairness, resilience and excellence on the global stage'. Pettigrew, who was born in Georgia, was caught up in the BALCO doping scandal and admitted during the trial of former coach Trevor Graham that he had doped. As a result, the US Anti-Doping Agency annulled all of Pettigrew's competitive results after January 1997. 3 The American quartet (left to right) Tyree Washington, Chris Jones, Jerome Young and Antonio Pettigrew were stripped of their gold medal a few years ago Credit: Getty CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He also voluntarily surrendered his 2000 Sydney Olympics 4x400 metres relay gold medal and his 1997 and 1999 world championship relay golds. In August 2010, Pettigrew was found dead in the backseat of his locked car in North Carolina. He was 42 years old. 'Freakish athlete' Anthony Elanga shows off insane 100m time ahead of Newcastle transfer An autopsy report said the cause of death was diphenhydramine toxicity – it was ruled that he had committed suicide by overdosing on a drug common to sleeping pills. One of the reasons it has taken so long to happen is that the five guys had not managed to coordinate diaries for an event taking place in the UK after it was all confirmed in 2021. Yet there is a bittersweet feeling among the contingent given that Pettigrew felt compelled to take his own life when his drugs shame went public. Welsh star Baulch, 52, said: 'I've said this to a few people now. If there was an option of giving this gold medal to him, I'd rather him have the gold medal than him taking his life. 'His life is far more important to me than me having this gold medal.' Former European 400 metres champion Thomas, 51, said: 'On the one hand it's a real shame it's taken this long. 'On a personal level, it's really beautiful today. My son Teddy, who is six, is here today. I didn't have any children back then. 'My mum and dad are pretty elderly now. They're up in the box. For them to be able to see the moment I should have had with the boys 28 years ago, but in front of a British crowd, it felt really special.'
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Premier League stadium in frame to host huge summer sporting event as government back UK bid to host
WEST HAM's London Stadium has been given the green light to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. The 60,000-seater East London arena – which held the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 – staged the flagship event of track-and-field in 2017. 4 West Ham's London Stadium has been given the green light to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships Credit: Alamy 4 Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson could compete at West Ham's stadium for the World Athletics Championships in 2029 Credit: Sportsfile And Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given the go-ahead for £45million investment to go towards the delivery of the Worlds in four years' time. An official bid will now be submitted by the Athletic Ventures company to World Athletics before the end of September and a decision on the hosts will be made at the back-end of 2026. Tokyo is the destination for the 2025 Worlds while Beijing is earmarked for 2027. The 2029 World Para Athletics Championships – which is also part of the prospective bid – will not happen in the capital and is likely to take place in either Birmingham or Glasgow . READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS The Government threw its full support behind the bid, claiming it would boost the UK economy. Starmer said: 'Bringing the World Athletics Championships to the UK would be a moment of great national pride , building on our global reputation for hosting memorable sporting events that showcase the very best talent. 'Hosting these championships would not only unlock opportunities for UK athletes but it would inspire the next generation to get involved and pursue their ambitions. 'The event would provide a boost for UK businesses and support jobs as well as bring our communities together. I'm delighted to support the bid.' Most read in Football 4 The stadium was built to host London 2012 Credit: AFP CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS The Hammers have played Premier League football at the stadium since decamping from the demolished Upton Park in 2017. Seb Coe – World Athletics chief since 2015 – will make the call alongside other Council members in Monaco next year. Premier League stadium unveils state-of-the-art £4m solar panel installation which will power ground for all matchdays Yet Britain's double Olympic 1500 metres champion warned that it would be a 'competitive' process and gave no guarantees, despite his nationality and past connection to Team GB, that London would be successful. Coe, 68, said: 'We are starting the process now. It is officially open. It will be competitive. There are a lot of good cities out there. 'The bidding process has been more interactive than it used to be. In the old days, you would sit there waiting for a federation to raise its hands. 4 Seb Coe will make the call alongside other Council members in Monaco next year Credit: Reuters 'We are actually now looking at where do we need to be strategically? What are the things we are trying to achieve? 'There is a much more strategic approach to this and instead of just sitting there saying Federation A, B or C fancies staging a world championships. 'We look at where we need to be and the types of markets we need to access and use them to invigorate the sport, maybe in various parts of the world. 'I'm not going to be choosing winners or losers now but London has some very clear and obvious assets. We are an athletics-loving nation and people turn up.'
