Lachie Kennedy runs 10 seconds flat for second-best 100m by an Australian

Lachie Kennedy became the second-fastest Australian over 100m with a time of 10 seconds flat in the open’s heats at the national championships in Perth on Friday.His performance followed two times of 9.99s by 17-year-old Gout Gout the previous day that went unrecorded due to tailwinds amid a series of searing 100m runs at this meet, underlining Australia’s depth in talent in both men’s and women’s sprinting.Rohan Browning, who was bumped down to third place in the all-time list by Kennedy’s run, also appeared close to his best with a 10.07, albeit with an illegal tailwind of 2

Eligibility row and water quality leave bad taste in mouth before Boat Race

Twelve months on from a dirty-water controversy, this year the toxicity has spread to the clubs in the Boat Race.The Olympic gold medallist and former Light Blue rower Imogen Grant caused a stir last month when condemning Oxford as “slimy” for getting three Cambridge students banned from the race as they were studying for postgraduate certificates in education (PGCEs) rather than a degree, although the conservationist could also have been describing the contents of the Thames, the course for this anachronistic yet somehow endearing national event. About 200,000 spectators and revellers are expected to line the banks of the river between Putney and Mortlake to cheer on the women’s race at 1.21pm on Sunday, with the men’s race due exactly an hour later. Few watching will be tempted into the water

Governing bodies braced for grassroots funding cuts from Sport England

English sport’s governing bodies are braced for central government funding cuts after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, made her spring statement. In a joint conference call last month hosted by Sport England, the non-departmental public body responsible for allocating grassroots funding, representatives of the major sports formed the impression they were unlikely to be spared the impact of the bracing spending cuts to be imposed on government departments this year.Sport England invests more than £250m promoting sport and physical activity each year, with their funding provided by the national lottery and central government, which is in turn handed on to the sport’s governing bodies. Representatives of the bigger sports such as the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were all on the recent call and left in little doubt that securing funding is likely to be increasingly challenging over the coming years.While a source involved said that funding cuts were not presented as imminent or inevitable, the governing bodies were given a stark reminder of the challenging financial climate

Built different: Is the 6XL, 464lb Desmond Watson too large for the NFL?

The defensive tackle is one of the most intriguing prospects in this year’s draft. But the attributes that make him stand out could also be his downfallDesmond Watson is pro football’s next very big thing: a 6ft 6in, 464lb defensive tackle who is poised to become the heaviest player ever selected at the NFL draft, which takes place later this month. “He’s a unicorn,” his coach at Florida, Billy Napier, said last month. “You’ll go the rest of your career, and you’ll never be around a guy that’s that stature.A native of Plant City, Florida, the state’s strawberry capital, Watson was the Gators’ big man on campus, a larger-than-life folk hero to match the school’s 7ft 9in basketball prospect

Jaron Ennis has been tipped as boxing’s next great one. Now it’s time to prove it

The Philadelphia boxer nicknamed Boots, touted as a future pound-for-pound No 1, carries sky-high expectations and an unfinished family legacy into the biggest fight of his lifeBozy’s Dungeon never had a fixed address. For years it was tucked two blocks from the clattering El train in North Philadelphia, past strips of weathered rowhouses and corner stores. These days it sits in a quiet residential stretch of the Great Northeast. The location and sign on the door might change, but inside, it’s always the same: a temple of toughness and repetition, where talk is cheap and fighters are made brick by brick, round after round. The ring is sacred, the rules unwritten but understood: work, wait, and one day, your shot will come

Chess: Magnus Carlsen in form at Paris Freestyle after Hans Niemann drops out

Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, was an early front runner in the $375,000 second leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Paris. The 34 year-old tied for first with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 12-player round robin which decided Thursday’s quarter-finalists, and which proved a disaster for India.Three of their four contenders were eliminated, headed by the 18-year-old world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, who also failed in the first Grand Slam leg in Germany.Friday’s round one semi-final games, Fabiano Caruana (US) v Carlsen (Norway) and Hikaru Nakamura (US) v Vincent Keymer (Germany), were both drawn. Round two games, with speed tie-breaks and Armageddon if 1-1, take place on Saturday, followed by the two-day final on Sunday and Monday (1pm BST start)