‘She’s a grown woman’: skiers defend Lindsey Vonn’s decision to race despite crash

Lindsey Vonn’s fellow skiers have defended her decision to compete in the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics while dealing with a ruptured ACL.The American crashed out early in her run on Sunday. She suffered a fractured leg and was airlifted from the course. Some users on social media said she should not have been racing only a week after injuring her knee. But those who know the risks of skiing best supported Vonn’s decision

The flawed Patriots face a harsh truth: only the very best teams get a Super Bowl sequel

The greatest lie a fanbase tells itself is that there is always next year.It is the softest landing spot in sport, a comfort blanket after a crushing defeat. Next year, we’ll be healthier. Next year, we’ll fix our offensive line. Next year, we’ll add that superstar receiver and retain all our guys

Tearful Kirsty Muir rues agonising fourth place in Winter Olympics slopestyle

Long after the finale of this compelling women’s freeski slopestyle competition, Kirsty Muir was still struggling to process the cruellest loss of her young career.“I’ll be proud of myself in a minute,” the 21-year-old Team GB star told one reporter, through the sobs and the pain. “But I’m in a bit of a hole right now.”As the tear ducts opened again, she told another reporter: “I got to see the family, they were hugging me a bit too tightly that I was getting a bit claustrophobic. It was lovely to see them and know they are so proud of me, no matter what

Bad Bunny and jingoism lite: was this the Super Bowl where woke roared back?

Roger Federer smiling wolfishly to the crowd: a return to woke? Adam Sandler hangdog in the Levi’s Stadium stands, Jon Bon Jovi mooching on the sideline like a retired dentist on a cruise, Billie Joe Armstrong belting out American Idiot during the pre-game show under his motionless meringue of fogey-blond hair: were they a sign? A New England Patriots team who were neither favored to win nor widely reviled, then promptly repaid a grateful public by losing: was this the Super Bowl which proved that history really can move on, that America is not fated to remain hostage to the tremors and hatreds of the past? Well, yes and no.A year after Donald Trump made American football’s showpiece all about him, Sunday’s game in Santa Clara always promised a sort of correction – a cooling of the mood, perhaps even an end to the manipulation of sport for political ends. As always the best way to gauge the success of this mission was as the gods intended: through a TV screen. Trump – saddled with historically low approval ratings, facing a massacre in this year’s midterms, and no doubt wary of risking a public appearance in the deep blue sea of the Bay Area – was absent on this occasion, and he kept the F-22 fighter jets that were scheduled to be part of the pre-game flyover away from Levi’s Stadium too. (Unspecified “operational assignments” were the reason offered for the jets’ withdrawal, which means there’s probably a low-ranking member of the Trump administration putting big money on a US military strike somewhere in Latin America as we speak

‘I’m a freer spirit’: Wallabies winger Dylan Pietsch on staying grounded through art

Where once dark clouds swarmed, Dylan Pietsch now closed his eyes and saw dots. It was 2020 and the Western Force and Wallabies winger was painting the boots of each of his Australian rugby sevens teammates before the Tokyo Olympic Games. Thousands upon thousands of dots, the songlines of Pietsch’s ancestors: forests and flood plains, rivers and water holes, all connecting back to his country and culture.“Traditional art compels you to be present for each and every dot,” the 27-year-old Wiradjuri-Burray man says. “But after three days of dotting 30-odd footy boots my vision was swimming

England’s habit of ‘winning ugly’ in tight games gives them T20 World Cup hope

Another win, and if England emerged from the Wankhede after their fraught victory against Nepal on Sunday without much of a strut to their step, they did so with two points in their pockets and the bandwagon still rolling. They have now won 11 of their 12 completed T20s in the past year and in their most recent two games they have been reminded that winning ugly can be more powerful than winning easy.“I wouldn’t have wanted it to be as close as it was to be honest,” Jacob Bethell said. “But this is my first World Cup. Watching previous World Cups you want to get those little tricky games, to get a feel for them and just know you’ve got the confidence to get over the line in them