Sport

Muir fourth again after agonising tumble as Oldham wins big air gold for Canada
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

China’s Eileen Gu second, Italy’s Flora Tabanelli thirdBriton, fourth again, says: ‘I really did have to go for it’This time, Kirsty Muir must surely have believed that a Winter Olympic medal was in her grasp. But as a thrilling big air competition reached its denouement, an Italian with no anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee came down a 180‑feet ramp and drove a stake through the Briton’s heart.It all looked so promising when the 21-year-old from Aberdeen landed a stunning left double 1620, with four and a half rotations, to move into the medal positions after two of the three rounds. However, with just four jumps of the competition remaining, Flora Tabanelli, who tore her ACL in November, did the same trick as Muir but only better to score 94.25 points to steal the bronze medal. Continue reading...

Macclesfield’s fairytale FA Cup run ended by Heathcote’s own goal against Brentford
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

The standing ovation from the Macclesfield fans at full time was deserved. Their side may have lost 1-0 on the night, their dream FA Cup run coming to an end just when a lucrative trip to West Ham’s London Stadium in the fifth round had veered into sight, but pride was the overriding emotion.Ultimately it had taken an unfortunate own goal from Sam Heathcote, a PE teacher when not playing as a part-timer in the National League North, to nudge Brentford of the Premier League into the fifth round. Continue reading...

Haji Wright hat-trick sinks Middlesbrough and returns Coventry to Championship summit
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

“We are top of the league,” sang the Coventry City supporters on loop after returning to the summit of the Championship with a victory that quelled the nagging noise surrounding Frank Lampard and his promotion-chasing side. Coventry, pace-setters for the majority of the season, had won just four league games since the end of November. But Haji Wright hit a timely hat-trick as Coventry again traded places with Middlesbrough, whose six-game winning run came to an abrupt half, to renew belief in these parts.Riley McGree pulled a goal back midway through the second half but from the restart Boro conceded a penalty that allowed Wright to claim the match ball. Coventry’s lead may be a single point but this felt a significant victory, psychologically as much as anything, their having taken just 16 from the previous available 39. “There have been quite a few questions asked and I think the lads should get a lot of credit,” Lampard said. “It was a big game, a really good game, which probably showed why we are one and two in the league. We have to take this as a bit of a template of what has to go into a game.” Continue reading...

Keith Wood: ‘After a Lions series, every player that went on tour is wrecked’
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

The former Ireland hooker on his rugby family, why Andy Farrell’s side need to rebuild and the physical toll of touring with the LionsI have known Keith Wood for nearly 30 years and so it’s easy to talk about life and death long before we move on to rugby. But the game always provides context and, last Friday afternoon, the 54-year-old former Lions hooker and Irish captain drove to Cork to watch his youngest son, Tom, play for Ireland against Italy in the Under‑20 Six Nations.The previous weekend Tom made his first-team debut for Munster to match his dad and the grandfather he never met. Gordon Wood played for Munster, as well as Ireland and the Lions, before he died, aged 50, in 1982. Keith was only 10 when that first tragedy occurred but he went on to play for the same three teams as his dad. Continue reading...

‘I struggled without realising’: Tommy Freeman reveals mental toll of workload
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

Northampton coaches eased post-Lions burdenEngland back played 34 games last season England’s Tommy Freeman has revealed the extent of his mental struggles after the victorious British & Irish Lions tour of Australia at the end of a season when he exceeded the player welfare limits for the number of appearances.Freeman played in 34 games last season – 19 for Northampton, nine for England and six for the Lions – and has spoken of a “built-up anxiety” as a result of the workload. The mandated limit is 30, but players were given dispensation for the Lions tour on the proviso they were allowed five weeks off on returning from Australia and missed the first two rounds of the 2025-26 season. Continue reading...

Tyson Fury says death of Anthony Joshua’s friends prompted his return to the ring
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

Fury set to step back into the ring after 15 months outJoshua involved in fatal Nigeria car crash in DecemberTyson Fury has revealed the deaths of two of long-time rival Anthony Joshua’s friends in a car crash in December was the catalyst for his return to boxing.Fury will step back into the ring on 11 April after a 15-month absence to face the Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov in a bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which will be broadcast live on Netflix. Continue reading...

Brilliant Sri Lanka leave Australia on brink of T20 World Cup elimination
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

Stunning ton by Pathum Nissanka seals hosts’ run chaseAustralia need Ireland to beat Zimbabwe on TuesdayAustralia could be out of the T20 World Cup before they even play their final first round group match after a stunning fightback by Sri Lanka in Pallekele.Returning captain Mitch Marsh and a revived Travis Head looked to have set Australia on course for a victory that would have kept their tournament hopes alive as they smashed a century-plus opening stand at more than two-runs-a-ball. Continue reading...

Emma Raducanu beaten in first round of Dubai tournament by ‘lucky loser’
Posted on Monday February 16, 2026

British No 1 beaten 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 by Croatia’s Antonia RuzicWorld No 67 reels off six games in a row to claim victoryEmma Raducanu lost the final six games in a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 defeat against Antonia Ruzic in the opening round at the Dubai Tennis Championships.The British No 1, whose original opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto withdrew at late notice because of fatigue, fought back in the second set to level the match and led 2-0 in the decider before losing all momentum. Continue reading...