It was a week for throwing away certain victories, Dutch cyclist Steven Kruijswijk most of all. Three minutes in front going into the final weekend of the Giro d’Italia, all he had to do was stay on the bike. Then this happened. The mishap paved the way for Vincenzo Nibali, struck down with dysentery days…
Trump tries sports diplomacy. Fails.
Donald Trump tried to be nice to someone this week. It went spectacularly wrong. Trying to thank Colin Montgomerie for playing at one of his golf courses, Trump unwittingly trolled the Scottish golfer. @montgomeriefdn Colin, great to have you at Trump Turnberry. So proud of you and your GREAT playing! You made winning MAJORS look…
Whistle blower admits Russia full of dopes
When it comes to doping, the Russians make Lance Armstrong look like a weekend pill popper. As the World Anti-Doping Agency decides whether Russia can compete at Rio, the bloke who ran Russia’s anti-doping lab has spilled the beans on a systemic doping program that operated during the Sochi Olympics. Here’s how it worked. Dope…
Where’s the cheese, Eurovision?
One question, Eurovision. Why so serious? All these years, you’ve been so gloriously chintzy, with your sappy songs and your wind machines and your over-the-top costumes and your out-of-step dancers and your quest to corner the world sequins market. But this year, there was a distinct lack of cheese. The homage to fromage was notably…
Can things get any worse for Rio?
Brazil’s economy is tanking more than Bernie Tomic, the country’s infested with Zika-bearing mozzies, the water’s putrid and a stack of Olympics-related construction won’t make the deadline. Now, less than three months out, Brazil has just lost its president to a corruption scandal, with Dilma Rousseff suspended while she faces trial for creative budget accounting….
Kyrgios missing from bad boy contest
Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic were duking it out this week for the mantel of baddest boy in tennis, a hotly contested title these days and strangely lacking Nick Kyrgios in recent days. Playing in the final of the Istanbul Open, Dimitrov made abstract artworks of three racquets to concede the match to Argentinian Diego…
Leicester paints the town blue
Leicester is not a glamorous city, perhaps best known as the place where a dead king was found buried in a car park. And not a great king, revered and all conquering, but Richard III, whose controversial reign lasted as long as a modern day Australian prime minister and ended just as bloodily. Said king…
Bloopers aplenty in Olympic countdown
It’s been all about the countdown this week as we notched up 100 days to the Olympics on Wednesday. Michelle Obama celebrated by getting in some fencing practice with the US team, which looked more like an audition for the next Star Wars movie. The force is strong in this one. The Independent newspaper marked…
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