Chief sports reporter and columnist at @Guardian. Previously sports editor of guardian.co.uk & Football Weekly founder. Email: Sean.Ingle@theguardian.com
London, UK
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Utterly heartbreaking hearing the Italian boxer Angela Carini in the mixed zone. Blood on her shorts.
Broke down in tears as she explained that she had never been hit so hard before.
Added that she came her to honour her father, that she was a warrior, but had to stop.
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More from Italian fighter Angela Carini. Did not want to talk about rules but added:
"After the second one (blow to the nose) I couldn't breathe anymore. I went to my coach and said 'enough' because it takes maturity and courage to stop. I didn't feel like fighting anymore."
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The Italian Angela Carini is crying her eyes out in the ring.
She decides not to continue after being hit hard twice by the Algerian Imane Khelif. Fight lasted 46 seconds. First punched knocked her chin strap off and she was holding her nose.
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Big news from cycling's governing body, the UCI, which has changed its transgender policy to make the female category a "protected class"
"From now on female transgender athletes who have transitioned after (male) puberty will be prohibited from participating in women's events."
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Classy response by Jakob Ingebrigtsen after a thriller of an Olympic 1500m final
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World Athletics president Seb Coe has hailed swimming’s decision to ban transgender women from elite female competition as in “the best interests of its sport”.
Also hinted that track and field could follow suit - with WA council meeting at end of year
theguardian.com/sport/2022/j…
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Just spoke briefly to the Italian boxer Angela Carini outside the North Paris Arena. Confirmed she ‘maybe’ has a broken nose, hurts a lot but not checked out yet.
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Breaking: Lia Thomas, who was the first transgender athlete to win a NCAA college title, has lost a legal case against World Aquatics at the court of arbitration for sport.
WA say it is a “a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport”.
theguardian.com/sport/articl…
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Kicking off at Fan Zone after England fans throw bottles at police and police respond by charging at England fans ... police cheered on by locals
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Carini's coach in the mixed zone:
“I don’t know if her nose is broken. I have to speak with the girl. But many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: “Don’t go please: it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you.”
Utterly heartbreaking hearing the Italian boxer Angela Carini in the mixed zone. Blood on her shorts.
Broke down in tears as she explained that she had never been hit so hard before.
Added that she came her to honour her father, that she was a warrior, but had to stop.
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Sebastian Coe has promised to introduce an “uncompromising and clearcut” policy to protect women’s sport if elected as IOC president. Clearly positioning himself as the change candidate - wants organisation to be more democratic and open.
theguardian.com/sport/2024/n…
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BREAKING: British Cycling Board of Directors has voted in favour of an immediate suspension of its transgender policy.
"We understand there are concerns regarding the extent to which our current policy appropriately reflects the Sports Councils’ Equality Group guidance"
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Simone Biles has just given an astonishingly brave interview to a packed mixed zone, talking about mental health issues.
‘Even though it's so big, it's the Olympic games. But at the end of the day it's like we want to walk out of here, not be dragged out here on a stretcher’
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World Athletics set to introduce tougher rules for transgender and DSD athletes, including a cheek swab test for anyone who wants to compete in the female category. Based on recent scientific research, which shows male advantage exists even before puberty
theguardian.com/sport/2025/f…
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New IOC president Kirsty Coventry says IOC members now back protecting the female category.
“There was overwhelming support that we should protect the female category. We will set up a working group made up of experts and international federations."
theguardian.com/sport/2025/j…
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Spoke to IOC and few others for this. Imagine it might blow up further >>> Boxers who failed gender tests at world championships cleared to compete at Olympics
theguardian.com/sport/articl…
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Alex Yee was toiling in the 30c heat, 14 secs behind Hayden Wilde, when he heard four words from a familiar voice that helped change the course of Olympic history.
“Anything can happen, mate,” shouted Alistair Brownlee. Seven minutes later he won gold.
theguardian.com/sport/articl…
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Huge intervention by UN Special rapporteur on violence against women and girls
#Angelacarini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological
Violence based on their sex.
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So Farage admitting no pot of gold for NHS, Hannan backtracking on migration falling &billions wiped off UK economy. This is going well, eh?
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British Triathlon has become the first UK sport to ban transgender athletes from female competition at elite & grassroots level after deciding that “fairness of competition is paramount”.
From January there will be open and female categories (1/n)
theguardian.com/sport/2022/j…
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Big news from the world of sports politics: IOC president Thomas Bach is stepping down at the end of his term in 2025. Many insiders - but not all - had expected him to try and get an extra couple of years, partly to thwart Seb Coe
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Some personal news ...
Congrats to @seaningle on being appointed @guardian chief sports reporter!
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My six-year-old daughter's spelling test this week. Pretty sure her teacher had just watched The Thing.
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Spoke to IOC today about whether it is right to allow boxers who failed gender tests to compete at Paris 2024 ... and whether anyone who undergoes male puberty should be allowed into female category.
Story here: theguardian.com/sport/articl…
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Biles asked what's her goal for Olympics. "To focus on my well being. You know there's more to life than just gymnastics."
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It finally happened in the Scottish League Cup today. If only James Alexander Gordon was still around ...
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Guardian story here: UCI signals transgender policy shift as it recognises ‘concerns’ of female cyclists. Strong sense now that it will announce a change in August theguardian.com/sport/2023/m…
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British Cycling confirm trans woman cyclist Emily Bridges is now unable to compete in National Omnium Championships
- Told it is a ' technically' as Bridges has to wait until current UCI registration runs out to compete as a woman
- But was talk of a boycott by GB female riders
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The Diamond League does a screeching U-turn and announces that the triple jump, discus, 200m, 3000m steeplechase and 5000m will be reinstated in a full programme of 32 events in 2021. Will have the support of athletes, most of whom were mystified by the changes in the first place
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"People often say that if exercise was a pill it would be the greatest drug ever invented. For the past 17 years parkrun has acted as a free dispensary." My column on the potential farce of parkrun not coming back this summer - and its myriad benefits theguardian.com/sport/2021/m…
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At midnight Kirsty Coventry became IOC president and the world's most powerful sports administrator. Spoke to several people in the IOC ecosystem and there is a strong sense she will be v.different to Bach - and her promise to protect women's sport is real theguardian.com/sport/2025/j…
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FA Statement: The Supreme Court’s ruling on the 16 April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025.
thefa.com/news/2025/may/01/f…
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BREAKING: The former chief doctor of British Cycling and Team Sky has been found guilty of ordering banned testosterone “knowing or believing” it was to be given to an unnamed rider to improve their athletic performance.
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In the mixed zone after the 100m breaststroke final, Andy Peaty was asked what his three-year-old son, George, had said to him.
“Well, he normally goes 'daddy, are you the fastest boy,’ he replied, breaking down in tears. “But not today. He just said, ‘I love you daddy’.”
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Sky's director of football Gary Hughes says that women's football is getting an average of 125k viewers per game this season on the channel - higher than expected.
Best figure, he tells SportsPro Live, is the 550,000 that watched Man City v Spurs in September
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My Guardian column on the brilliant Marcus Rashford, a one-man nudge unit quietly inspiring the nation to do better while – in the politest possible way – urging the government to do another screeching U-turn theguardian.com/football/blo…
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Not a surprise but significant. And given IOC only gave World Boxing provisional approval earlier this year, indicative of a wider direction of travel too
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UCI adds: "the men’s category will be renamed Men/Open, and any athlete who does not meet the conditions for participation in women's events will be admitted without restriction."
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Stunned and humbled to win this
We turn our attention to the Specialist Correspondent award and your winner is @Guardian_Sport's @SeanIngle 👏 #SJA2021
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"I just don't trust myself as much as I used to. And I don't know if it's age - I'm a little bit more nervous when I do gymnastics. I feel like I'm also not having as much fun and I know that."
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Rather tragically still have the original Daley Thompson’s Decathlon on the Spectrum 48k, although computer and several joysticks long since gone to computer heaven
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Unbelievable! Less than 24 hours after winning the 1500m gold medal at the European, 17-year-old Jakob Ingerbrigtsen wins 5000m gold from his brother Henrik, who took second. HE IS 17!
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Fifa president Gianni Infantino appears on the screen inside the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium. Suddenly there are loud boos from all corners of the stadium. Camera cuts quickly away.
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Exclusive: Cricket has got the nod for the LA Olympics - along with flag football and baseball/softball.
Suggestions that lacrosse and potentially squash could also be proposed as additional sports for 2028.
theguardian.com/sport/2023/o…
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UCI will reopen consultations over its transgender policy & decide in August
Statement acknowledges "the desire of transgender athletes to practice cycling"
But adds it "hears the voices of female athletes & their concerns about an equal playing field"
Which, I think, is new
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CONFIRMED: New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, as expected. 43-year-old, who transitioned in 2012, has named in NZ team in Women’s super heavyweight class in last few minutes
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IOC's Mark Adams was asked again about women's boxing controversy. “I repeat that all the competitors comply with the eligibility rules. But what I would say is that this involves real people. And, by the way, this is not a transgender issue. I should make this absolutely clear."
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Exclusive: @GregJRutherford has been secretly training with GB Bobsleigh, whose coaches say he has "every chance" of making it to Beijing 2022. Wants to be the first Briton to win a medal at summer and winter Olympics. "I intend to make history," he says. theguardian.com/sport/2021/a…
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The BBC has snubbed a world record attempt by Olympic golden girl Keely Hodgkinson on its main channels in favour of showing a film it aired as recently in October 2024 and a repeat of Flog It!
Her race on Saturday will iPlayer only. Strange decision.
theguardian.com/sport/2025/f…
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Press release makes clear the UCI have changed their view because of the science and to ensure equality of opportunity. Here is UCI president David Lappartient's comment.
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Guardian column on World Athletics' new DSD/transgender regulations. Coe’s bold pronouncements last summer that "fairness is non-negotiable” and "biology trumps ideology" have been filed down on the altar of realpolitik (and fear of legal challenges) theguardian.com/sport/blog/2…
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Exclusive: World Rugby is considering banning trans women from playing women’s rugby because of significant safety concerns, a decision that would make it the first international sports federation to go down that path theguardian.com/sport/2020/j…
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Huge number of Indian ex-pats outside the England hotel, awaiting the team’s arrival in Qatar. Spoke to a few of them, and they insist they are not fake fans. Also have shown us murals of England players they have drawn back in Kerala
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The 22-year-old American Anna Hall runs an extraordinary 2:02.97 at the end of a heptathlon to score 6988 points - making her the fifth best in history. Katarina Johnson-Thompson second overall with 6556, which is a massive result after so many injuries
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World Athletics confirms that "all athletes, support personnel and officials from Russia and Belarus will be excluded from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future, with immediate effect".
Includes World Indoors later this month, Worlds in Eugene etc.
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A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine finds that, even after suppressing testosterone for two years, trans women in the US Air Force were 12% faster than biological women under 30 over 1.5m miles. Raises questions over whether IOC transgender guidelines are fair
Transgender women retain 12% edge in tests two years after transitioning, study finds. Story: @seaningle theguardian.com/sport/2020/d…
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Bit late to this, but what an amazing story: Dope testers show up at Delhi State Athletics Meet, most athletes bolt; only 1 in 100 metre final indianexpress.com/article/sp…
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Good news for UK athletics fans: The BBC has secured the rights to broadcast all five of the World Athletics World Indoor tour meets. First one, in Karlsruhe on Friday, features Dina Asher-Smith & Andy Pozzi. Strong suggestions BBC will make a similar move for Diamond League too
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For those who missed it, Nigeria's Tobi Amusan smashed the 100m hurdles WR in 12.12 sec.
She later revealed she was using Adidas' Adizero Avanti shoes, which have bouncy foam and are for 5 and 10km runners, by chance when she got injured.
Track legal tho as foam is only 20mm.
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Powerful run from Dina Asher-Smith as she qualifies fastest for 200m final. And just as powerful off it, as she reveals that her cramps in 100m final were from "women's issues" & demands more research
"If it was a men’s issue there'd be a million different ways to combat things"
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Loud whistling from Iran fans for their own national anthem, many of whom are protesting against their regime
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Been thinking a lot about this in recent days. In 1939 my grandfather, Jimmy Ingle, became the first Irishman to win the European Amateur Boxing Championships. Would almost have certainly gone to the Tokyo Olympics in 1940. But the war intervened. He was 17.
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Meanwhile in cricket ... Transgender players banned from international women’s cricket by ICC
theguardian.com/sport/2023/n…
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My Guardian column today reveals that 66 Olympic and World track & field medallists have been banned for doping since 2017 (and 196 in total). Athletics shows what can happen when you spend 12% of your budget chasing cheats. A lesson here for other sports theguardian.com/sport/blog/2…
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The headline hides how bold this is - new guidelines from 5 sports councils which fund sports in UK, say there is no magic solution that balances trans inclusion and fairness and safety in women’s sport. And say there are ‘retained’ advantages even when testosterone is suppressed
New guidelines for transgender participation unveiled by UK sports councils. Exclusive by @seaningle theguardian.com/sport/2021/s…
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The governing body of cycling, the UCI, releases its new transgender policy. Reduces testosterone limit to 2.5nmol (from 5) and increases the transition period from 12 to 24 months. Means Emily Bridges won't be able to compete in women's category until next year.
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'For British fans success is a powerful amnesiac' - my column on the easy ride Team Sky get despite UKAD scrutiny theguardian.com/sport/2017/s…
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My Guardian column today is on the biological advantages that 46XY 5-ARD athletes have, and the immense difficulties of balancing fairness and inclusion theguardian.com/sport/blog/2…
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World Athletics have banned trans women from international competition. Seb Coe:
"The Council has agreed to exclude male to female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female world ranking competitions from March the 31st this year."
(1/2)
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Strong words here: “When I see sports like modern pentathlon and skeleton, which aren’t popular in inner-city or working-class communities, get millions of pounds, I wonder what sort of world the powers that be are living in and what agenda they are trying to push"
British Basketball on the brink as funding crisis threatens national sides eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/b… strong words on UK Sport/Sport England's funding priorities - plenty of ££ for several sports we don't play much but none for one we do?
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As the guy who set up Football Weekly (with @bglendenning) in 2006, need to say a massive thank you to @acjimbo for his sustained brilliance
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US coach Gregg Popovich on US & Iran players and coaches chatting after. "In general people from different countries get along better than their politicians do. The Olympics is a time that transcends that petty crap you get from governments ... We just wish that was real life"
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Wow. To put McKee’s time into context, it’s within 20 seconds of the PBs of five women who are competing in the British Olympic 5,000m trials today
Today in making everyone feel old and slow: Emer McKee ran a 16:25 5K at the Lisburn Festival of Running, breaking her own age-group world best by 15 seconds.
She's 12.
📸@Willowfield_TH / Keep Fit Ireland
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The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, was told by numerous sporting bodies today that they are nervous of legal challenges if they carry out the government’s call to prioritise female sport over trans inclusion, multiple sources have told me. Story here:
theguardian.com/sport/2022/j…
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Had no idea of this story. Fascinating read: Hakan Sukur – Turkey’s fallen hero who can never return home theguardian.com/football/201…
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My Guardian column is on the biggest, richest and most dramatic sporting event of the weekend: the final four of @chess24com's $250,000 Magnus invitational, el clásico between Carlsen and Nakamura, and how rapid play turns chess into an adrenaline sport theguardian.com/sport/blog/2…
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Seen a lot of q's after NZ weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was named as first trans athlete to go to Olympics. This podcast, by a top sports scientist, is the most forensic I've seen on the key issues. (Also explains why 'What about Michael Phelps' big feet?' isn't a killer argument)
Our transgender sport podcast is out. We explore misconceptions & deceptions, incl:
🚨 “Tall girls & short girls”
🚨 Sporting fairness vs inclusion: How women’s sport creates meaning
🚨 Testosterone & performance denialism
🚨 Overlaps & absence of winners
podcasts.apple.com/za/podcas…
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Spoke to Magnus Carlsen in Dubai, plus his sister, best mate and Vlad Kramnik to understand what makes Carlsen so great. As always Magnus was disarmingly honest. Who else would tell you: "I'm not as hungry as I once was...Right now, I don’t really feel it" theguardian.com/sport/2021/n…
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A 1200wd piece on the Freeman verdict, which should also raise questions for Brailsford, Sutton & Peters.
Also there was a neat bit of symmetry as a story that began with a Jiffy bag on the Team Sky bus ended with its former doctor being left under one.
theguardian.com/sport/2021/m…
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Guardian column today. Includes a minor scooplette on the IOC medical and scientific director's major change of heart re trans participation in sport, plus Lia Thomas and an issue that won't go away theguardian.com/sport/blog/2…
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"For years most have regarded the issue as too dangerous to touch: the sporting equivalent of playing pass the parcel with a live grenade. Now, though, they have no choice"
Analysis of where sport is with transgender issue (& why not all will follow Fina)
theguardian.com/sport/2022/j…
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FT's @martinwolf_ says "outright lies" of Farage, Mail & Sun won & Brexit "most disastrous" event in UK since WWII
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Exclusive: An incredible feat of detective work – and the discovery of documents at a wrestling club in Wigan – has unlocked a remarkable secret: Britain's first black Olympian competed in 1908 - and not 1920 - and he was a tram driver from south London
theguardian.com/sport/2022/j…
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Love touch at end of basketball, some Iranian players asking US players for photos and walking off the court together
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Strong comment from US 1500m star Jenny Simpson on Salazar ban. "Get him out -that's my reaction. If you cheat, you get banned...Anybody who knows anything about this sport knows there's a black shadow over that group. So why anyone chooses to be part of that group I've no idea"
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Open category: “all individuals including male, transgender and those non-binary who were male sex at birth”.
“Female category” will apply only “for those who are the female sex at birth”.
The policy will apply to any race that is timed or has prizes.
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Emma Radacanu's coach thinks doing horse riding, swimming, tap dancing, basketball, skiing, golf and go-karting as a kid - and only specialising in tennis later - helped her. Here's why. (With a massive nod to the brilliant @DavidEpstein)
Emma Raducanu reaps benefit of multi-sports background | @seaningle theguardian.com/sport/2021/s…
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I swear Simone Biles is the biggest super fan here in the Ariake Gymnastics Arena. She keeps encouraging the gymnasts as they compete - and when the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade nailed her routine on the uneven bars scoring (14.666) she clapped super excitedly in appreciation
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A lot of poeople are sniffy about this sub-2 marathon business, given it didn't count under IAAF rules and uses souped-up trainers. But in 50 years' time, I bet when people ask who was the first man to go sub-2, people will say Eliud Kipchoge (who ran 1:59.40.2)
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Extraordinary run by Jake Wightman, who takes 1500m GOLD for GB in 3:29.23 ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Katir takes bronze. Kerr 5th in 3:30.20.
And his dad @WightmanGeoff was commentating in the stadium.
"Jake Wightman has just had the run of his life," says Geoff.
Oh wow.
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Sad to report that David Lacey, the Guardian football correspondent whose impeccable judgment and unerring ability to turn match reports into an art form made him a titan of the press box, has died at the age of 83.
theguardian.com/football/202…
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