Ed Warner: Russia has taken us all for fools, especially spineless Thomas Bach February 24, 2022 Second in the table of overall medals won isn’t half bad for a nation denied a place at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Russia has taken us all for fools. You if you watched any of it. Me for doing just that. All the sporting politicians who allow Russian athletes to compete. The greatest fool [...]
Winter Olympics: Worst GB haul in decade as cost per medal soars February 22, 2022 The curtain has fallen on another Winter Olympics – this time in the famously snowy destination of Beijing – bringing to a close a disappointing Games for Team GB. In terms of the medal table, Great Britain matched their performance of the previous three Winter Olympics. That is an underwhelming 19th place, however, and this [...]
Ed Warner: Commonwealth Games has earned extra life by embracing esports February 17, 2022 If you want to win a full bore rifle shooting medal at the Commonwealth Games you’ll need a keen eye, steady hand, ability to lower and control your heart rate, thousands of hours of practice – and a host city willing to include the event. However good you might be, then, Birmingham 2022 isn’t your [...]
Teenage figure skating star Valieva cleared to compete at Winter Olympics February 14, 2022 Teenage Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to continue competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics despite a failed drug test. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled that Valieva’s provisional suspension could be lifted, meaning the 15-year-old is free to go for gold in the women’s individual event tomorrow. But Valieva [...]
Why Team GB athlete Lorraine Ugen started her own sportswear brand Unsigned February 9, 2022 British track and field star Lorraine Ugen is launching her own self-funded sportswear brand, Unsigned, for athletes without sponsorship contracts. World, European and Commonwealth Games medallist Ugen wants the label to highlight the growing number of athletes who don’t have endorsement deals. The long jump and sprint specialist, 30, also hopes the budding business can [...]
Could British Skeleton be on the slide at Beijing 2022? February 9, 2022 Hurtling head-first down a hollow hemisphere of ice on what resembles a school dinner tray at 90mph, unable to repeat the process more than a few times a day and with a genuine risk of life-changing injuries. No, this isn’t the latest example of Quentin Tarantino’s stylised violence on the big screen; it’s the skeleton. [...]
British skier Kirsty Muir, 17, reaches big air final at Winter Olympics February 7, 2022 Seventeen-year-old British freestyle skier Kirsty Muir has qualified for the women’s big air final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Muir, from Aberdeen, finished seventh in the heats but team-mates Katie Summerhayes missed out on the final by one place in 13th. Team GB’s James Woods, a former Winter X Games champion, failed to reach [...]
Watch: Reporter violently removed and dragged away by Chinese officers during live broadcast at Beijing Olympics February 6, 2022 A Dutch reporter was in the middle of a live broadcast when Chinese security officials showed up, surrounded him and dragged the journalist away. During a live report on broadcaster NOS, on Friday night, the reporter, Sjoerd den Daas, was mid-air when security officials interrupted and dragged him away. Another officer held his hand in [...]
Ed Warner: Why the Olympics is frozen by complacency February 3, 2022 Curl up for the curling. Settle down for dust-ups on the rink. Thrill at the sliders and skiers. Swoon over the skaters. Grumble about geo-politics and overbearing branding. The Olympics are here again. Not the Olympics Olympics, obviously; rather their smaller Winter sibling. Less than half the number of competing nations, a quarter of the [...]
Dame Katherine Grainger: Team GB can unite and inspire at Winter Olympics and Paralympics February 2, 2022 It is less than six months since our British Olympic and Paralympic stars returned from a triumphant performance at the summer games in Tokyo, yet the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games is almost upon us. The proximity of these Games to last summer’s events in Tokyo is a great opportunity for our athletes [...]