‘Death hunted him since he was a kid’: how Lamar Odom survived to become a villain in his own tale

A new documentary charts the tragic events that led to the former NBA star overdosing in a Nevada brothel – and what came nextThere’s a version of the Lamar Odom story that ends in a Nevada brothel. It’s not hard to imagine the grand finale – the TMZ bulletin relating his fatal drug overdose, followed by emotional tributes to what was lost: a radical basketball prodigy of the New York tradition, a two-time NBA champion with the Kobe Bryant Lakers, a glittering career that spanned coasts and eras before caving under the weight of addiction. A cautionary tale of incandescent fame, with Odom’s celebrity wife Khloé Kardashian cast as a man-eater to eclipse her more notorious older sister, would have been the epilogue cemented in a thousand think pieces.But by living to tell the tale, Odom has instead become the latest fallen star to prove a core truism of Western mythmaking: heroes who don’t die young are doomed to live long enough to become the villain in their own tale.“There is a way of understanding Lamar where everything in his life is kind of in reaction to death hunting him since he was a kid,” says Ryan Duffy, executive producer of Netflix’s Untold sports docuseries

Mercedes’ Wolff says Antonelli and Russell are ‘off the leash’ to race … for now

Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, leaders of the Formula One world championship in a dominant Mercedes car, are “absolutely off the leash” to race one another, their team principal, Toto Wolff, has said. Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, the 19-year-old’s second victory on the trot and with Russell managing only fourth, the Italian leads his teammate by nine points.Wolff insisted there was no plan to use team orders between them unless it becomes necessary later on. “We’re three races in, the car is good so we need to continue to do our job and give them a tool that they can continue to win or fight for the positions,” he said.“Towards the end of the season we’re going to see how the points fall and whether anything needs to be done

Alfie Barbeary’s late try earns Bath thrilling comeback victory against Sale

The reservoir of talent at Bath runs deep these days. The champions rested a raft of key players but still had too much class for a Sale side whose season continues to unravel at a rate of knots.An entertaining game played in difficult, windswept conditions could have gone either way, but Johann van Graan’s side conjured up two tries in the final quarter to clinch a bonus-point win.First their precocious 20‑year‑old hooker, Kepu Tuipulotu, broke on the left touchline before sending a delightful kick downfield for his fellow replacement Bernard van der Linde to gather and score.It was a telling reminder of Tuipulotu’s awesome potential on a day when Finn Russell and Ben Spencer were given the afternoon off

A gleaming tribute to Mary Rand’s gold | Brief letters

As a schoolboy, I was fascinated by coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A few years later, on a family holiday, we visited Wells Cathedral. Outside the grounds lay a gleaming brass strip in the pavement marking the distance that Mary Rand long-jumped to create her world record. A lovely tribute to this remarkable person (Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold, dies aged 86, 27 March).Anil BhattSunderland Your review of the fourth instalment of Alan Bennett’s diaries, Enough Said (24 March), says he nearly always notes the anniversary of the beginning of his national service: “8/8/52

Cheltenham pulls plug on rest of season to fix home-straight drainage problems

If you were planning a day at Cheltenham before the end of the jumps campaign, think again. The home of National Hunt racing said on Monday it will not stage another fixture until autumn, having taken the unprecedented decision to cancel its three remaining meetings in order to start major drainage works on the home straight over the summer months.The two-day meeting scheduled for 15-16 April and the track’s traditional season finale, a hunter-chase fixture and concert on 1 May, attracted a combined total of nearly 25k spectators in 2025. That is a long way short of the 56k daily average at the festival this month, but will still represent a significant loss in ticket sales and race-day revenue from food, drinks and betting.Potential drainage problems were highlighted in January when the final race of the Trials meeting, the last fixture at the course before the festival, was delayed for 29 minutes by the appearance of a hole in the home straight

Sinner sees off Lehecka to complete Sunshine Double without dropping a set

Jiri Lehecka entered his first Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open in the best serving form of his life. He had won every service game in the tournament, a feat previously achieved by eight men at this level. The ease with which he brushed aside all nine break points against him reflected his confidence.It took two return games for Jannik Sinner to drag the Czech back down to earth. Ten minutes in, Sinner had already broken Lehecka’s unbreakable serve