Bristol’s Big Day Out turns sour as Harlequins and Isgró spoil the party

In theory Bristol’s Big Day Out concept in Cardiff had all the right ingredients. Here was a chance to attract a few more floating voters and show them a good time in one of the world’s great stadiums. For the Prem as a whole it also massages the league’s aggregate attendance figures and projects the sense of a tournament growing steadily bigger and better.So much for best-laid plans. The attendance was about 6,000 fewer than the club’s previous game in Cardiff last season and the outcome also did nothing for Bristolian blood pressure as the Bears suffered a serious dent to their playoff chances at the hands of a Harlequins side winless in their previous six matches

‘I want to follow in Bannister’s footsteps’: Josh Kerr gunning for world mile landmark

It is, says Josh Kerr, a moment that makes the hairs on the back of his neck tingle every time he watches it. We are talking about Roger Bannister, his body taut then spent, falling into a crowd of well-wishers on a cinder track in Oxford in 1954 having become the first person in history to break the four-minute mile barrier. “That’s what I live for,” Kerr says, with the broadest of smiles.And then comes the grand reveal. Because at the London Diamond League in July, Kerr intends to stand on the shoulders of track and field’s giants – such as Bannister, the Australian Herb Elliott, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett – by breaking the mile world record

Ilia Malinin completes redemption arc with third straight world figure skating championship

Ilia Malinin claimed a third straight world figure skating championship on Saturday afternoon, completing a swift redemption a month after his shock Olympic collapse with a commanding free skate.The 21-year-old American entered the final at Prague’s O2 Arena with a commanding lead after Thursday’s short program, where his personal-best 111.29 had put him more than nine points clear of the field. This time, there would be no unraveling.Skating last, Malinin produced a free program of 218

Lachie Kennedy upstages Gout Gout to win 200m at Peter Norman Memorial

Gout Gout has a problem and his name is Lachie Kennedy. In another enthralling evening in Australian athletics, the superstar teenager was once again upstaged by his fellow Queenslander, at the Maurie Plant Meet on Saturday.Under pouring rain at Lakeside Stadium in front of close to 9,000 fans, Kennedy held off the fast-finishing Gout in the Peter Norman Memorial 200m. The result was a replay of last year in a race that is now the clear highlight of the Australian athletics season.“Today he got the win, but next time I’ll be better for sure,” Gout said after crossing the line second, five hundredths of a second behind the winner

Illinois imposes alcohol limits near campus with Final Four berth at stake

Officials in Champaign have imposed temporary alcohol restrictions around the University of Illinois campus ahead of Saturday night’s Elite Eight game between Illinois Fighting Illini and Iowa Hawkeyes, citing public safety concerns tied to anticipated postgame celebrations.The emergency order, issued by mayor Deborah Frank Feinen, requires bars in a designated campus area to serve alcohol only in plastic, paper or aluminum containers during a set period before and after the game. Sales of packaged liquor and cocktails-to-go will be restricted after tipoff, while alcohol deliveries into and out of the area will be temporarily prohibited.The order also bars licensed establishments from selling more than one keg of beer to a single customer.City officials said the measures are intended to reduce the risk of injury or property damage in crowded areas

Featherstone’s long and quiet Sundays in a rugby league town that lost its soul

Club’s financial crisis meant exclusion from the RFL Championship this season, and it could be a long way back for one of the sport’s storied namesSunday afternoon in Featherstone. The first shoots of spring are creaking through the skyline and the Railway pub is bustling with rugby league supporters as the town’s pride and joy, Featherstone Rovers, prepare to face Swinton Lions.Or at least, that is what should have happened last weekend. Instead, streets of this West Yorkshire town built on coal mining were deserted. The Railway, just a few hundred yards from Rovers’ Post Office Road home, was largely empty and the gates of the stadium chained shut