‘This city shows up’: Cleveland Heights celebrates Laila Edwards’s historic Olympic gold

About 75 residents packed the Cleveland Heights Community Center on Thursday afternoon to watch the Winter Olympic women’s ice hockey final. They crowded around a big screen with eyes locked on Team USA – and on one of their own, Cleveland Heights native Laila Edwards. For once, the tension in the room wasn’t the familiar Cleveland sports dread. It was the kind that comes with watching a hometown kid play for something bigger.Still, the old reflex surfaced when Team USA fell behind to Canada early, and stayed behind deep into the game

Winter Olympics briefing: the need for speed and a glut of skating records

Picture this: you are on the verge of breaking an Olympic record. The cheers, the spotlight, your name etched in history. The magical initials – OR – next to your name until it is next broken. You have got a gold medal waiting to be draped around your neck? Wait, no gold? Silver, maybe? Nope? Surely bronze? No?! Fourth place?! Ouch.Such is the life of Joep Wennemars of the Netherlands, who went under the previous Olympic record in the men’s 1500m speed skating

World T20 Super 8s guide: India still team to beat but Curran can inspire England

Power-hitting co-hosts are hot favourites despite playing in strongest group, while Sri Lanka and New Zealand will fancy chance of making finalPakistan“It’s simple,” said Shadab Khan after Pakistan’s last group game, a one-sided encounter with Namibia. “We just have to keep doing the good things we’ve been doing. Our openers are giving us good starts in almost every match. In bowling, we have to keep hitting the right areas consistently. I think we’re on the right track

Chess: Magnus Carlsen wins yet again while British Championship prize fund soars

Magnus Carlsen notched up yet another world crown last weekend when the Norwegian, 35, continued his decade-long campaign aiming to edge ahead of Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer on the game’s absolute pantheon.This time it was Freestyle chess, where the back row pieces start in randomised positions to eliminate pre-game prep. Carlsen, who currently also holds the Rapid and Blitz crowns, abdicated his Classical title in 2023 citing lack of motivation. His total titles, now 21, include five at classical chess, six at one-hour rapid, and nine at three-minute blitz.The event at Weissenhaus, a luxury resort on the German Baltic coast, was the first recognised by Fide as an official Freestyle world championship

Domenicali pleads for calm over fears new rules will wreck Formula One

Stefano Domenicali, the chief executive of Formula One, has issued an urgent plea for calm after the damning driver criticism of the sport’s new regulations that has emerged during pre-season testing. But the Italian conceded that F1 is prepared to intervene and enforce changes should the racing prove disappointing.There has been a clamour of discontent over how the new regulations will play out, particularly the role of energy management rather than driving flat-out. Not least from the four-time champion Max Verstappen, who dismissed the new rules as being “anti-racing” and insinuated that he might leave F1 if he no longer enjoyed driving the new cars.Domenicali, speaking on the second day of the final pre-season test in Bahrain, faced a broadside of questions about the potential of the new rules being unappealing to fans and drivers and made repeated efforts to calm troubled waters

World Club Challenge fightback falls short as Broncos get glimpse of uncertain NRL season ahead | John Davidson

Disharmony, discord, disarray – or any other adjectives you can think of. Payne Haas’s dramatic defection to South Sydney for 2027, announced a week ago, sent shockwaves across the rugby league world. The best prop on the planet, one of the best players in the world, a NSW Origin star and NRL grand final winner, suddenly turning his back on the Brisbane Broncos four months after he helped them to an NRL title.In terms of stunning transfers in the modern era – Sonny Bill Williams to the Roosters, Glenn Lazarus to the Broncos, Cooper Cronk to the Roosters – it was right up there. And in a sport with more leaks than the Titanic, what was perhaps most fascinating was that it happened quickly and quietly with no rumours or inkling by the media or the fans of what was afoot